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Show 236 TilE LILY .AND THE TOTEM. broke, C\'CD :l.S the barb penetrated tile breast of the beast, and the boy fell forward at th!! mcrcy of his mighty antlers. Then was it that, sewing the lad's d:~ngcr,-for I was at hand, bearing the\ ictu:ils for the hunters-] threw down the basket, and rush· ing in, took the stag by his horns, in season for the lad to recover himself. The lord of Calos drew nigh aod saw, but he offered 110 help, leaving it to his son to draw the keen knife which he carded, over the throat of the strug~ling beast. And, excepting what tho boy s:tid to me of tlmnks, nothing did I hear of the thing which I l1ad done. But, three weeks after, the king made his preparations for a war party against the mountain Indians. Then he spokC to me, sayin_;, in his own languagc,-which, by this time, 1 llOuld undcrstand,-llarbu,-this was the name which had been gi,'cn me bcca.use of my bcard-Ba.rLu, it is not fit that one with such limbs a.nd skill as thou hast, should labor still in the occupation of the women. Gc~ thee a spear, such as will suit thy gr3Sp, and there arc bows a.nd arrows for thy choicc,-make thee satisfbd with sufficient pro,•ision, and get thee ready to go against mine enemies. Thou shalt have to lf!ar the 6e~h of a strong man! "Verily, my friends, though it shames me to confess, that I, a. Christian ma.n, could !if' weapon in behalf of one against another savage of the wilderness; yet such had been my sorrow, and so wretched did I feel at tl1e base tasks to which I had been gi>'en, -so very unlike the valiant duties which had distin,.,.uislJed mine ancient serv ice iu the armies of Castilc,-that 1 C\'C: rejoiced at the chance of putting on the armor of war,-and the meaner weapon of the red-men satisfied me then, who of old had carried, witl1 great favor, the matchlock and the sword. But the weapon of the savage, a.'! perchance thou knowest, is not greatly inf rior, according to their usage, and in their country, to tho superior im- 237 plcments with which the Christian warrior takes the field. If the urqucbuse is more fatal than the barbed arrow of the Indian, it is· yet less frequently ready for the danger. \\'hile you shall h:we put your pieces in readiness for a second fire, the sa,·agc will deli\'Cr tl1irty ja,•c\ins, each of which, if witl1in bullet reach, shall inflict ~uch an injury, short of death, as may disarm tho wounded person. Their reeds nrc always ready at hand. To them every bay and ri\·cr bank affords an armory, and the loss of their weapons, which were f:~tal to Frenchman or Spaniard, causes them but little mischief, 8ince a single night will repair all their losses. Neither much time nor much cost is it to them to supply their munitions, of which they can always curry a more abundant provision than can we. The great superiority of tlJC European, in his encounter with the red-nmn, is in his wisdom, the fruit of many ages of Ci\' ilization, and not in the weapons which he wields in conflict. Let him exchange weapons with the savage, and he will still obtain the victory. " It was because of this showing of superiority, together with the service which I J,ad thus rendered to his son, that made the lord of Cales fake me with him, armed as a warrior, on his expedition against tl1C mountain Jndi:lns of Apnlachy. I hastened to provide myself with weapons, as I was commanded, and I made for myself a gz·cnt mace, ~ucl1 as that which the strongest warriors canied, which was a. billet of hard wood, not more than four f~~ct in length, with a handle easy to the grasp, while at each side ran down a great row of flinty teeth, each broad a.nd sharpened like to a spear-head. It is a fatal weapon, with a 'vcll-dcli\'ercd blow. In like mnnncr did I imitate the practice of the red-men in dressing the head and breast for war. I put on the paints, red and black, which 1 beheld them usc ; but1 instead of the unmeaning |
