Travels In The United States Of America; Commencing In The Year 1793, And Ending In 1797. With The Author's Journals Of His Two Voyages Across The Atlantic By William Priest
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Immediately The Unbodied Souls Of My Ancestors Appeared Before
Me.
Grief was in their countenances.
All fixed their eyes upon me, and
cried, one after the other, "_Brother, it is time thou hadst also
arrived in our abodes: thy nation is extirpated, thy lands are gone, thy
choicest warriors are slain; the very wigwam in which thou residest is
mortgaged for three barrels of hard cider! Act like a man, and if nature
be too tardy in bestowing the favour, it rests with yourself to force your
way into the invisible mansions of the departed_."
"By this time we had arrived at the ruins of the old indian town. The
situation was highly romantic, and of that kind which naturally inclines
one to be melancholy. At this instant a large heavy cloud obscured the
sun, and added a grace to the gloominess of the scene. The vestiges of
streets and squares were still to be traced; several favourite trees were
yet standing, that had outlived the inhabitants; the stream ran, and the
springs flowed, as lively as ever, that had afforded refreshment to so
many generations of men, that were now passed away, never to return. All
this while the Indian had melancholy deeply depicted in his countenance;
but he did not shed many tears, till we came to that quarter where his
ancestors had been entombed. 'This spot of land,' said he, recovering
himself a little, 'was once sacred to the dead; but it is now no longer
so!
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