and followed their footsteps as far as they were discernible.

Derbond listened to these details with intense interest, but did not well know what conclusion to draw from them, for he sometimes suspected that the narrators had a special reason for wishing to deter him from visiting or exploring the marsh, which they might think he was likely to do, inasmuch as his daily wanderings and excursions shewed an inquisitive and restless spirit; and that these superstitious tales were invented to restrain his curiosity and keep him at home. But supposing this idea to be correct, it was still an object for him to discover what there was in the Ouaquahenegow that the Indians wished to conceal from European eyes; and he tried every means to obtain information upon the subject, taking care at the same time that they should not imagine he felt any personal or private interest in it, for the least suspicion of the kind would have redoubled their natural caution and reserve.

At length an old Indian, with whom he was particularly intimate, and who often came to visit him of his own accord, made a disclosure which seemed to throw sufficient light upon the whole affair.

"About forty years ago," said he, "the Apalachees possessed the lands bordering on both sides of the Savannah River; but their neighbours, the Mamikas made war upon them, and defeated them, and drove

them from their natural territories, appropriating these to their own use, and threatening to exterminate any of the conquered tribe who should ever attempt to return and re-occupy them. The Apalachees thus found themselves deprived of their country, and unable to choose a new one, for all the lands to the northward and westward of their ancient possessions belonged to nations sufficiently powerful to resist invasion, and too numerous and proud to allow a body of fugitives and strangers to incorporate itself with them. Under these perplexing circumstances, it occurred to one of their chiefs, that the great marsh Quaquahenegow was still untenanted, and that tradition reported that its interior consisted of high, fertile, and habitable lands, that were accessible by one path only, the situation and direction of which, however, were no longer remembered by any one. The Apalachees nevertheless secretly sent a mission to discover it, though how far they succeeded is uncertain; but the whole tribe disappeared shortly afterwards, and it was supposed at the time, that having found out the secret avenue, they had retired into the recesses of Ouaquahenegow, and settled themselves there, concealing or closing up the entrance to their territories, in order that they might for the future avoid the assaults and encroachments of their enemies, whether Indian or European. The occasional appearance of unknown 'people within the confines of the marsh, seems to con

firm the truth of all this; and instead of being spirits, as is commonly reported, they are doubtless Apalachee men and women, hunting or travelling there, and prepared to terrify or put to death any stranger that may shew himself near their territories, lest he should find access to them, or instruct others how to do so, and thus lead to their race being a second time exposed to the miseries of war, subjugation, and expulsion. When I was a young warrior, I often thought of trying to penetrate into the marsh, to discover whether or not the lost tribe of Apalachees exist there, and if they do, what their condition is, and how far their seclusion from the rest of the world has affected their manners, customs, laws, and institutions. I even once engaged several friends to accompany me in an expedition of the kind, but they afterwards drew back, fearing the dangers and difficulties of the enterprise; and perhaps they did right, for the very borders of the Ouaquahenegow are so thickly wooded, and so much intersected by swamps, that one might wander among them weeks or months, without advancing five miles in the proper direction; and indeed it is likely that the greatest perseverance would be of no avail, unless the explorer happened to strike upon that particular avenue which, we are told, alone affords access to the beautiful highlands of the interior, on arriving at which he would stand every chance of being tomahawked for his presumption, or made a slave for life."

Derbond found some difficulty in concealing from the Indian the strong interest and emotion which his narrative had excited, for he did not think it prudent to confide to him the hopes, wishes, and designs which the subject had already suggested; and he merely inquired whether the Apalachees spoke the same language as their neighbours, and was answered in the affirmative. No sooner had his guest departed, than he began to consider what use he could best make of the intelligence he had received respecting the Ouaquahenegow and its inhabitants; for having long meditated some kind of enterprise, he thought that a fair opportunity to execute one now offered, and the more so, as the scene of action absolutely lay, as it were, at his own door.

To endeavour to get access to the highlands of the Ouaquahenegow and ascertain the condition and character of their inhabitants, was a first and essential step in the scheme which he had in view, but far from being the leading and principal one; for it struck him that he might, by some means or other, acquire the confidence and respect of the Apalachees, and advance himself so high in their estimation, as to enable him eventually to become a kind of sovereign amongst them, and even to make himself master of their country, in which there could be no Europeans to circumvent him, and oppose or counteract his designs. it was vain to calculate whether these objects were

But

attainable, and how they were to be pursued, till he had learned something definite of the people with whom he would have to deal; which could only be done by his personally visiting and associating with them. And he flattered himself, that being a white man, he would run less risk in entering their territories than an Indian would do, because the Apalachees having had little or no intercourse with Europeans, and having, it was to be supposed, no reason to regard them in the light of enemies, would consider an intruder of the kind rather as an object of curiosity than as a secret foe or a designing spy. The chief difficulty then seemed to lie in the discovery of the avenue to the interior of the marsh; for even those Indians, who professed to have explored its borders, said that they knew nothing of the direction of the path in question: nor was Derbond willing to make specific inquiries upon the subject, lest he should lead any one to suspect his designs. But it being the autumn, and a very unfit time for his expedition, on account of the heavy rains and flatness of the country, he perceived the necessity of deferring it till winter, when the ground would be hard and dry, and the leaflessness of the trees would render it easier to travel through the forests, and to observe every thing that they might present to view.

The prospect of a delay of two months little suited the impatient spirit of Derbond, though he was aware that he could employ the time very profitably in ob