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nut tree, and with these they surround a portion of the field. In the centre of this circle, a lamp is set up, filled with the expressed oil of a single cocoa-nut. At night, this is lighted; and an assurance given to persons called Cappoowah, that, when the crop is gathered in, a portion shall be given away, in the name of the god of Kattnagamme; trusting that, in consequence of this vow, they shall be effectually preserved from blight or mildew. Should this, however, not be the case, the priest has always a ready excuse, and pretends that there was some mistake in the performance of the ceremony: so the delusion still succeeds. Nor is this custom by any means partial. it is adopted by every landholder around us, from the highest to the lowest."

Of some favourable circumstances with respect to the Natives, the Missionaries thus speak :

"The most hopeful of all the natives are the children and labourers-persons who have no expectation of rising either by interest or merit. Kindness shewn to them seems to encourage confidence and engage affection, without exciting pride and inflaming worldly ambition. It is an advantage to us, at Baddagam. me, that the natives are not composed of persons professing different religions. We have no Mohammedans, norHindoos, nor Roman Catholics. In general, though they are nominal Christians, having been left without instruction for so long a period, they might more properly be called Budhists. They have no particular prejudice, however, in favour of the religion of their forefathers, but are well inclined to listen to the instruction of missionaries. Some regard is now paid to the Sabbath; and their idolatrous ceremonies are less frequently performed."

AUSTRALASIA MISSION.

On the subject of the Australasia Mission, the Committee congratulate the Society, that there is a prospect of obtaining further assistance to its concerns, in the colony of New South Wales. His excellency Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane, before proceeding as Governor to New South Wales, assured the Society of his hearty support of its plans in those seas, having made himself well acquainted with Mr. Marsden's proceedings, which he highly ap proved.

Of the influence of the Seminary at Parramatta on the Chiefs of New Zealand, Mr. Marsden writes:

"Much has been done already to. ward the civilization of the natives, in those parts of New Zealand with which we have had any commnuication; and nothing has tended more to this object, than the chiefs and their sons visiting New South Wales. It is very pleasing to see the sons of the rival chief's living with me, and forming mutual attachments. I have some very fine youths with me now, who are acquiring the English language very fast. By the sons of chiefs living together in civi lized life, and all receiving equal attention, they will form attachments which will destroy that jealousy whichr has kept their tribes in continual war.” There were, at this time, twenty-five New Zealanders in the seminary. Mayree, a young New Zealander, who was returning to his own country from England, died on the passage, and, as the Committee have reason to believe, in the faith of Christ. During the passagė, he was very attentive to the instructions given him, and particularly to the reading of the Scriptures. About half an hour before his death, he requested a person present to pray with him. After the prayer be said, “Now, Mrs. Cowell, you make a write”—prepare a letter. "Tell Mr. Pratt, Mr. and Mrs. Bickersteth, Miss Hart, Mrs. Simpson, and all my England friends, Jesus Christ Mayree's friend! Mayree die and go to heaven !" "In a few minutes," adds the narrator," he expired-leaving the world, I hope, to dwell with Christ his Saviour."

Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

It was stated in the last Report, that Mr. Marsden was about to sail with Mr. Butler and his associates, for New Zealand. A gratifying journal of Mr.

Marsden's intercourse with the natives has been sent home by him-" written," as he says," where I happened to be at the moment, often surrounded by the natives, and in the midst of noise and confusion; for they let me have little rest, night or day, as they would be continually talking on various subjects." His intercourse with them, in various quarters, and particularly in a journey from the Bay of Islands across the island to its western coast, was highly encouraging.

Mr. Kendall was admitted, while in this country, into holy orders; and furnished materials to Professor Lee for the compilation of a Grammar and Vocabulary of the New Zealand language,

which cannot fail greatly to facilitate the objects of the Society in reference to these extensive islands. Part of the impression has been taken off on very strong paper, for the use of the New Zealand scholars; and the more elementary portions have been printed off on a separate card, for the use of the younger children.

It was noticed in the last Report, that an increase of food had led to a

more full development of the native spirit, than when the settlers first arrived; and more turbulence was, in consequence, anticipated. This apprehen. sion appears not to have been ill-founded. It was known that they had been in the savage practice of eating human flesh; but the practice was considered very rare, and rather as connected with the subtle superstition which enthrals their minds, than as a sensual indulgence. Instances, however, of this horrible custom have latterly been more open and frequent. Several are mentioned in the journals of the settlers. The warlike spirit of the natives occasions great difficulties to the missionaries.

It has been wisely made a fundamental regulation of the Society, that no Implements of war shall be on any account employed as articles of barter in carrying on traffic for necessaries with

the natives.

Mr. Marsden, a few days before he left New Zealand, drew up a number of queries addressed to the settlers who had then lived about five years among the natives, with the view of ascertaining the degree of influence on the people which had attended their residence among them. The answers to these queries satisfactorily shew, that under the peculiar circumstances and character of the natives, important preparatory progress has been made; and, taken in counexion with the advances which have been made in fixing the language and in compiling of elementary books, they hold out very considerable encouragement to look for the blessing of God on that plain and af. fectionate declaration of the Gospel among these islanders for which they seem now to be prepared.

WEST-INDIES MISSION.

It was intimated in the last Report, that the Committee were taking measures to extend the benefit of education among the West India Islands. With this view, they have agreed with Mr. Dawes, of

Antigua, that he shall devote himself to the establishment and superintendence of schools, on the National plan, in connexion with this Society, in those islands where it may be found prac ticable and expedient. The Society's publications have been circulated, as opportunities have offered, in various islands; and the Committee are encouraged to look forward to an increase of their means of usefulness in the West Indies, from a voluntary co-operation offered to the Society from the islauds of St. Christopher and Nevis. Mr. Thwaites's journal shews that the schools in Antigua are gradually working a beneficial change among the slaves and their children

A commodious school-room has been erected in Barbadoes: there were 160 scholars ou the list, and many applications were made for admission. The rector of the parish, and other clergymen and gentlemen, state, that there is: "considerable improvement in the discipline, readiness, and answers of the children."

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NORTH-AMERICAN INDIANS.

(Continued from p. 58.)

Mr. Hodgson thus continues his narrative: We proceeded through the woods, along an Indian path, till evening, when we reached the dwelling of a half-breed Choctaw, whose wife was a Chickasaw, and whose hut was on the frontier of the two nations. We found him sitting before the door, watching the gambols of fifty or sixty of his horses, which were frolicking before him; and of more than 200 very fine cattle, which at sunset were coming up as usual, of their own. accord, from different parts of the surrounding forest, where they have a boundless and luxuriant range. The whole scene reminded me strongly of pastoral and patriarchal times. He had chosen this situation, he said, for its retirement (in some directions he had no neighbours for fifty or a hundred miles), and because it afforded him excellent pasturae and water for his cattle: he added, that occupation would give him and his family a title to it as long as they

chose.

He told me, that great changes had taken place among the Indians, even in his time; that in many tribes, when he was young, the children, as soon as they rose, were made to plunge in the water, and swim, in the coldest weather; and

were then collected on the bank of the river, to learn the manners and customs of their ancestors, and hear the old men recite the traditions of their forefathers. They were assembled again, at sunset, for the same purpose; and were taught to regard as a sacred duty, the transmission to their posterity of the lessons thus acquired. He said, that this custom is now abandoned by all the tribes with which he is acquainted, except, to use his own words, "where there is, here and there, an old ancient fellow, who upholds the old way;"-that many have talked of resuming their own customs, which the Whites have gradually undermined; but are unable, from the loss of their traditions;—that he supposes that these might be recovered, from distant tribes over the Mississippi; but that the Choctaws are acting more wisely in seeking civilization.

He said that they had an obscure story, somewhat resembling that of Jacob wrestling with the Angel; and that the full-blooded Indians always separate "the sinew which shrank," and that it is never seen in the venison exposed for sale. A gentleman, who had lived on the Indian frontier, or in the nation, for ten or fifteen years, told me that he had often been surprised that the Indians always detached this sinew, but it had never occurred to him to inquire the reason.

My half-breed Choctaw also informed me, that there were tribes or families among the Indians, somewhat similar to the Scottish Clans. Those of the same family or clan are not allowed to intermarry, although no relationship, how ever remote, can be traced between them, and though the ancestors of the two parties may have been living, for centuries,in different and distant nations. Indeed, wherever any of the family or clan meet, they recognize one another as brothers and sisters; and use one another's houses, though personally strangers, without reserve.

With respect to the religions belief of the Choctaws, he said that it is a prevailing opinion among them, that there is a Great Spirit, who made the earth, and placed them on it, and who preserves them in their hunting journeys, and gives them their "luck in life;" that, however, they do not often think of Him; that they believe that all who die, go to the spirit country; but that some suppose it is divided into two nations;

the one abounding in fine woods, and deer, and buffaloes; the other destitute of both; that these imagine, that when the spirit of bad men leaves the body, it proceeds on the same road as that of good men, till the road forks, when it takes the way to the bad country, supposing it to be the other;—that many expect a great day, when the world will be burnt and made over again, far pleaganter than it is now, when the spirits will return from the spirit country and settle again upon it; and that near the place where they were buried will be their future home.

On Sunday evening, two poor Indian hunters came in, with no covering bat a little blanket wrapped round them. Our host immediately lighted his pipe, gave two or three puffs, and passed it to his Indian guests, who did the same; when it was laid down again. As soon as the strangers heard that I 66 was a British," they seemed much pleased; and indirectly confirmed what I had previously heard, both in the Creek and Choctaw nations, of the lingering attachment of many of the Indians to their ancient allies. Before the hunters árrived, my host had been speaking on the subject; and said that the older Indians had frequently inquired of him, where their White people were gone ;that they had fine times formerly, when their White people were among them, who used to give them handsome presents for nothing; but they disappeared suddenly, and nobody had ever seen them since: "however, may-be they'll come again." He said that many large districts had suffered severely, especially during the late war, for refusing to fight against the British; and some individuals had been put to death, even by their own nation, after it had gone over to the Americans. I told them of the death of King George; who, among the Choctaws, is often spoken of with a degree of respect that must gratify a British heart; although enlightened humanity forbids us to wish that they should cherish their former feelings under circumstances which must render them productive only of disappointment.

Our hunters, who conversed with us through the medium of our half breed host, remained till fate; an Indian never thinking of leaving any thing that he is interested in, merely because it is night, as they have no fixed engagements to prevent them sleeping whenever they'

please. We endeavoured to obtain one of them for a guide the next morning, as our track was a lonely one: but he had hurt his foot. We accordingly set out alone, very early, as there was not a habitation of any kind for the distance of fifty miles; which we were therefore to complete in the day, or to lie in the woods and as the day was wet, we preferred the former. We might perhaps have felt some apprehension also of wild beasts on such an unfrequented road; since, although we were informed that wolves, unless nearly famished, are scared by the scent of a human being, a hungry panther is sometimes not intimidated even by a fire. Our course, the whole day, was along an Indian path, about twelve or fourteen inches broad, through woods which protected us from the hot sun when it gleamed between the showers. It was twice crossed by hunters' paths, a little narrower than itself; and we were admonished, that, if we deviated into these, we should perhaps come to no habitation for 100 or 150 miles. We arrived safely at the end of our journey about sunset; having seen only two Indian hunters and two wolves, in the course of the day. The Chickasaws, among whom we next arrived, generally appeared to us neater in their persons than our friends the Choctaws. The Chickasaws seem to expend in ornaments their savings and the annuity, of which the Choctaws appropriate a large proportion to their farms or cattle.-Among their customs, I was told that they bury their dead in their houses. While getting a cup of coffee at a full-blooded Chickasaw's, a little Negro girl the only person about the house who could speak English, said, "Master's wife is lying behind you.” On looking round, I saw nothing but a bed; when the little girl told me to look under it. When she observed that I was disappointed on perceiving nothing, she said, "Mistress is buried there; but don't speak loud, or master will cry."

We again set off early in the morning, and breakfasted at an Indian's. Soon after breakfast, we crossed a swamp, which had been held up in terrorem before us for some days; and took the precaution of passing it in company with some gentlemen who were acquainted Iwith its intricacies. Our prudence, however, was unnecessary; as the dry weather had rendered it far less difficult and troublesome than several which we

had previously crossed alone. In the course of this day's ride, we crossed the last waters which fall into the Tombigbee; and some little streams, which, taking an opposite direction, empty themselves into the Tennessee. We also passed, though still in the Indian nation, the boundary line between Mississippi and Alabama. The country became more hilly; and we were glad to exchange our muddy streams for clear pebbly brooks.

At night, we slept in the woods; and, in the morning, crossed Bear Creek, a beautiful romantic river. A few miles further, we came to the summit of a hill, from which we had an extensive view of the country below us. The surface was broken into lofty ridges, among which a river wound its course; and the mass of forest which lay between us and a very distant horizon, exhibited no trace of animated existence, except a solitary cabin and, one patch of Indian corn. The view of this boundless soli. tude was naturally a sombre one; but, to us, emerging into light from the recesses of thick woods, in which, for wany days, our eyes had seldom been able to range beyond a narrow circle of a few hundred yards, it imparted sensations of cheerfulness which it would be difficult to describe. Not that we were tired of the wilderness. The fragrance of the woods which enveloped us in a cool shade, and the melody of their warbling tenants, regaled the senses with a perpetual feast: while the gambols of the squirrels, the cooing of the doves, the variety of large snakes which often crossed our path, birds with the richest plumage, which we had seen only in museums, and, above all, the magnificent forest trees which here attain their largest growth,—all presented an unfailing succession of objects to interest and amuse us. Besides, there is something so soothing in the retirement of these vast solitudes, that the mind is, at first, unwilling to be disturbed in its reveries, and to awaken from the deep, and, perhaps, unprofitable musings into which it has suffered itself to be lulled. Yet, although it would shrink from the glare of a day-light which would summon it to its ordinary cares, and would start back from a sudden introduction into the din and bustle of a jarring world, it is refreshed by looking abroad on the face of nature, and is delighted to revive its sympathies with the rational creation of which it forms

a part, by glancing on the distant confines of civilized life.

Towards evening, we passed, not without regret, the line which separates the present territory of the Chickasaw nation, from their last cession to the United States. As I had previously learnt that my journey would not be extended by visiting the Missionary Settlement among the Cherokees, I determined to take Brainerd in my way; and proceeded through Alabama and East Tennessee, to the north-east corner of the State of Georgia, where it is situated. In passing through the northern part of Alabama, I was particularly struck with the rapidity with which it has been settled. It is little more than two years since these public lands were sold. At that time not a tree was felled; and now the road is skirted with beautiful fields of cotton and Indian corn, from 80 to 120 miles in extent. Whereever I inquired, which I seldom failed to do as often as I stopped, I found that there were schools and opportunities for public worship within a convenient distance. I was gratified by receiving the same information throughout East Tennessee.

At the foot of the Cumberland Mountains we slept in a solitary hut, where we found a neat old woman, of 70 or 80 years of age, very busily engaged in spinning. A young clergyman, who had been visiting Brainerd, was also driven in by heavy rain; and his offers to conduct family worship were thankfully accepted by our hostess and her son.

We reached Brainerd early on the Ist of June, and remained till the following morning. The manner of proceeding was so similar to that at Elliot, that it is unnecessary to describe it. In. deed, this institution was orginally formed by some of the very missionaries, who afterwards went on to establish the settlement at Elliot. The number of Cherokee children amounted to about 80; and, in addition to these, were two little Osage Indians, who had been rescued from captivity. I was much gratified by hearing the children sing their Cherokee Hymns: and many ancient prophecies came forcibly to my recollection, when joining, in this Indian country, with Americans, Indians, and Africans, in singing the praises of the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he bath sent. Some Negroes attended family prayer; and many come from a considerable distance to public worship

on Sunday. I was told, indeed, that there were instances of their walking twenty miles over the mountains and returning the same day.

What animation would an occasional glance at Elliot or Brainerd infuse into our missionary committees and how cheering to many a pious collector of one shilling per week in our female associations would be the sight of her Indian sisters, rescued from their degraded condition, and instructed in the

school of Christ !

After leaving Brainerd I crossed the river Tennessee, which here forms the boundary of the Cherokee Nation. I now bade a last adieu to Indian territory; and, as I pursued my solitary ride through the woods, I insensibly fell into a train of melancholy reflections on the eventual history of this injured race. Sovereigns, from time immemorial, of the interminable forests which overshadow this vast continent, they have gradually been driven by the White usurpers of their soil, within the limits of their present precarious possessions. One after another of their favourite rivers has been reluctantly abandoned, until the range of the hunter is bounded by lines prescribed by his invader, and the independence of the warrior is no more. Even their present territory is partitioned ont in reversion; and intersected with the prospective boundaries of surrounding States, which appear in the maps, as if Indian title were actually extinguished, and these ancient warriors were already driven from the land of their fathers. Of the innumerable tribes, which, a few centuries since, roamed, fearless and independent, in their native forests, how many have been swept into oblivion, and are with the generations before the flood! Of others, not a trace remains but in tradition, or in the person of some solitary wanderer, the last of his tribe, who hovers like a ghost among the sepulchres of his. fathers-a spark still faintly glimmering in the ashes of an extinguished race. From this gloomy review of the past history of these injured tribes, it was refreshing to turn to their future prospects; and to contemplate those missionary labours, which, under the blessing of God, are arresting the progress of that silent waste, by which they were fading rapidly from the map of nations. Partial success, indeed had followed the occasional efforts of the American Government for the civilization of the

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