The Seminoles - Page 2

country,
furnishes such a plenty and variety of supplies for the nourishment of
varieties of animals that I can venture to assert that no part of the globe
so abounds with wild game, or creatures fit for the food of man.

"Thus they enjoy a superabundance of the necessaries and conveniences of
life, with the security of person and property, the two great concerns of
mankind. The hides of deer, bears, tigers, and wolves, together with honey,
wax, and other productions of the country, purchase their clothing equipage
and domestic utensils from the whites. They seem to be free from want or
desires. No cruel enemy to dread; nothing to give them disquietude but the
gradual encroachments of the white people. Thus contented and undisturbed,
they appear as blithe and free as the birds of the air, and like them as
volatile and active, tuneful and vociferous. The visage, action, and
deportment of the Seminoles form the most striking picture of happiness in
this life; joy, contentment, love, and friendship, without guile or
affectation, seem inherent in them, or predominant in their vital
principle, for it leaves them with but the last breath of life.... They are
fond of games and gambling, and amuse themselves like children, in relating
extravagant stories, to cause surprise and mirth." [Footnote: Bartram's
Travels in North America.]

The same writer gives an engaging picture of his treatment by these
savages:

"Soon after entering the forests, we were met in the path by a small
company of Indians, smiling and beckoning to us long before we joined them.
This was a family of Talahasochte, who had been out on a hunt and were
returning home loaded with barbecued meat, hides, and honey. Their company
consisted of the man, his wife and children, well mounted on fine horses,
with a number of pack-horses. The man offered us a fawn skin of honey,
which I accepted, and at parting presented him with some fish-hooks,
sewing-needles, etc.

"On our return to camp in the evening, we were saluted by a party of young
Indian warriors, who had pitched their tents on a green eminence near the
lake, at a small distance from our camp, under a little grove of oaks and
palms. This company consisted of seven young Seminoles, under the conduct
of a young prince or chief of Talahasochte, a town southward in the
isthmus. They were all dressed and painted with singular elegance, and
richly ornamented with silver plates, chains, etc., after the Seminole
mode, with waving plumes of feathers on their crests. On our coming up to
them, they arose and shook hands; we alighted and sat a while with them by
their cheerful fire.

"The young prince informed our chief that he was in pursuit of a young
fellow who had