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Show 428 TIH: LILY AND THE TOTEM. Caroline. Tho intcnicw was full of compliment and good feeling on both sides. l'hc next day was designated for a grand con~ fcrcncc between Satouriova and Gourgucs. The interview opened with a wild and picturesque display, which, on the part of the Indians, loses nothing of its dignity beMuse of it.s rudeness. Tho stern and simple manners of tho red-men, their deliberation, their forbearance, tho calm which overspreads their assemblies, the stately solemnity with which the orator rises to n.ddress them, their patient attention ; these arc ordinary characteristics, which make the spectator forgetful of their poverty, their rude condition, the inferiority of their weapons, and the ridiculous simplicity of their ornaments. Satouriova anticipated the objects of Gourgues. Be. fore the latter could detail his designs, the savage declared his deadly hatred of the Spaniards. He was already assembling his people for their destruction. 1'hey should have no foothold on his territories! All this wil8 spoken with great vivacity ; nnd he proceeded to give a long history of the wrongs done to his people by the usurpers. He recurred, then, to the terrible destruction of the Frenchmen at La Caroline, and at the Bay of l\Iatanzas ; and VO· luntarily pledged himself, with all his powers, to aid Gourgucs in the contemplated work of vengeance. The response of our chevalier was easy. He accepted the pledges of Satouriovn with delight. He had not come, he said, with any present design to assail the Spaniards, but rather with the view to renew the ancient lllliance of the Frenchmen with the Floridians; and, s]Jould he find them in the proper temper to rise against the usurpers, then, to bring with him an armament sufficiently powerful to rid the country of the intruders. But, as be found SatourioYa. in such excellent spirit, and filled with so DOMINIQ.U£ DE GOURGUF.S. 429 brave a resolution, he was determined, even with the small force at his command, to second the chief in his desires to rid himself of his bad neighbors. "Do you but join your forces to minc,-bring all your strength -put forth all your resolution-show your best valor, and be faithful to your pledges, and I promise you that we will destroy tho Spaniards, and root them out of your country !" The Cassique was charmed with this discourse, and a league, offensive and defensive, was readily agreed upon between the p:~.rties. SatourioYa, at the close of the conference, brought for' varcl and presented to Gourgucs a French boy 1 named Pierre de BrC, who had sought refuge with him when La Caroline was t..'\kcn, and 'vhom he had preserved with care, as his own son, in spito of all the efforts of the Spaniards to get him into their power. Tho boy was a grateful gift to Gourgues ; useful as an interpreter, but particularly grateful as one of tho first fruits of his mission. That night Satouriova despatched a score or more of emissa.ries, in as many different directions, to the tribes of the interior. These, each, bore in his bands the war-macana, le BalO'TI R.cuge, the painted red-club, which announces to the young warriors the will of their superior. The runner speeds with this sign of blood to the distant ''illage, strikes the war·post in its centre, waves his potent sign to the people, declares the place of gathering, and darts away to spread still more the tidings. When he faintB, the emblem is seized by another, who continues on the route. In this way, tho whole nation is aroused, as by the sudden flaming of a thousand mountain beacons. A single night will suffice to alarm and assemble the poopleofa.n immense territory. The Indian runnm·, day by d:~.y, will out.travel any horse. The result of this expedition was visible next day, to Gourgues and his people. |