OCR Text |
Show 42 THE LILY AND TilE TOTEM. mimic thunder which he had always at command, and which, when heard, had so frequently shaken tho very hearts of the men of her people. In this relation stood the several parties, when, one day, amessenger came to Fort Charles from King Audusta, bearing a special invitation to Captain Albert to attend, with the savage tribes, tllO celebration of the great religious "feast of 'l'oya.'' Ilc w:ts invited to bring as many of his men as l1c tl1ought proper, but, in particular, not to forget their favorite Gucrnachc. The feast of 'l'oya, seems to have constituted the great religious ceremonial of tiJC nation. It took place about tiJO middle, ot· the close of sum· mer, and seems to have been a sort of annual thanksgiving, after the laws of a natural religion, for the maturing of their little crops. llfuch of the solemnities were obvious and ostentatious in their character. Jlluch more, howc\·cr, was invoh·cd and mysterious, and held pnrticulnrly sacred by tlJC priesthood. 'J'l1c occrl.!;iou wag one, at all events, to which the Indians attached the greatest. importance; and, naturally anxious to acquire as great a knowledge as possible of their laws, customs and sentiments, Captaiu Albert very rcndily acceded to the invitation,-preparing, with some sta te, to attend the rustic revels of Audusta. H e took with him a fair proportion of his little garril!on, and did not omit the inimitable Gucrnachc. Ascending the river in his Jlinn~tec, he soon reached t!JC territories of the Indian monarch. Audusta, with CCJunl hospitality and di&rnity, anticiJJatcd his approach, and met him, with his followers, at the river landing. With a hearty welcome, he conducted him to his habitations, awl gave him, at cnlr:l.nec, a draught of the cassina beverage, the famous tea of the country. ~L'hcn came damsels who washed their h:1.nds in vessels of water over which floated the leaves of the odorous bay, and Tit£ LF.GF.ND OF r.UERNACIIE. 43 flowers of rare pedumc; drying tlJCm after with branchC's of plumes, scarlet ami white, which were made of the f('athers of nati\'C birds of the most glorious mriety of hue. ~];\I s of reed, wo\·en ingeniously tog-ether by tlo.::licn.te wythcs of all colors, oraugc nnd green, and \·cnuillion, Jyed with roots of the fot·rf'.t, were thc:n sp1·ead upon the rush-sll·cwn floor of the royal wigwam; and, with 1~ grace not unbecoming a so,·crcign born in tlJC purple, Audusta invited ou1· Frcuchmcn to pl:tee themselves at case, each acC'ord4 ing to hill rank and station. The king took It is place among them, neither above the firf'.t., nor below the last, hut like a ft·icml within a favorit.c circle, in wltich some might stttnd more nearly titan othc1·1~ to his affections. ~'hey were then attended with the profoundest deference, and scn•ed with the rarest dclic<\Cics of the Indian wisinc. As uigl!L came on, fresh ru;;hcs were Iii rewed upon the floor, and they slept with the cheerful nm.~ie of songs and laughter, wltich reached them at inten·als, through the night, f1·om the mcny makers in the COJitiguou3 forc~ots. ·with the dawning: of the next day, preoarations fo1· the great fcsti\•al wero begun. |