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Show 296 THE LILY AND THE TOTE~f. the wl1ito man, nor been made to suffer because of his improvidence and necessities. I lis thunderbolts had never hurled among their columns, and mown them down as with a fiery scythe from heaven. The Frenchmen did not fuil to remark that they wcro provident tribes, with corn.fic!Js much more ample tlum were common among tllO lndi:ms. Tlwsc, they now concluded, must be covered with golden grain, in the season of harvest, and thither, accordingly, Laudonnicro dispatched l1is boats. A judi· cious officer conducted the detachment, and stores of European merchandize were confided to l1im for the purposes of traffic. llo was not disappointed in his expectations. llis soldiers were received with open arms; and a" good store of mil," Sp<'aking compamti\•ely, wns readily procured from the abundanco of tho ludians. But, in preparation for the return to France, other and larger supplies were necessary. The boats \verc again made ready, and confided to La Vasseur and D'Erlach. They proceeded to tho river to which the French had given their name of Somme, no\'r ]mown a.s the SMil!a, but which was then called among the lndians, the Irac:ma., after their own beautiful queen. Of this queen our Frenchmen had frequently been told. She had been described to them as the fairest creature, in the shape of womnn, that the country l1ad beheld: nor was the region over which she swayed, regarded with less admiration. This was spoken of ns a. sort of terrestrial paradise. llere, the vales were more lovely; the waters more cool :md pellucid than in any other of the territories of earth. Hero, the earth produced more abundantly than elsewhere; the trees were more stately and magnificent, the flowers more beautiful and gay, and tl10 vines more heavily laden with grape,t~ of the most delicious flavor. Sweetest I 297 i~Iets rose along the shore over which tho moon seemed to linger with a greater fondness, and soft breezes played over in the capacious forests, always kindling to emotions of pleasure, the soft beatings of the delighted hear~. The influences of scene and climate were fel~ for good amongst the people who were repro· sen ted at once as the most generous and gentle of all the Floridian nath•es. They l1ad no wild passions, and coveted no fierce delight!!. Under the sway of o. woman, at once young and beautiful, the daughter of their most favorite monarch, their souls bad become ,attuned to sympathies wllich greatly tended to subdue and to soothe the savage nature. Their li\·cs were spent in sports and dances. No rebukes or restraints of duty, no sordid cares or purposes, impaired the dream of youth and rapture which prevailed everywhere in tl10 hearts of tho people. Ga3 assemblages were ever to be found among the villages in tho forests; singing their own delights and imploring tho stranger to be happy also. They had a thousand songs nod sports of youth and pleasure, which made life a perpetual round of ever freshening felicity. Innocent llS wild, no eye of the ascetic could rebuke enjoyments which violated no cherished laws of experience and tl10ught, and their glad and sprightly dances, in the deep shadows ofthe wood, to the lively clatter oflndian gourds and tambourines, were quite as significant of harmless fancies as of thoughtlc8!1 lives. JJnppy was the lonely voyager, speeding along the coast, in his frail canoe, when, suddenly darting out from tho forests of lraeann, a slight but lovely creature, with flowing tunic of whit cotton, stood UP,On the head land, waving her branch of palm or myrtle, entreating his approach, and imploring him to delay his journey, while he shared in the sweet festivities of Jove and youth, for a. season, upon the shore, -crying with a. sweet cho.nt,- J3• |