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Show 28 THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON TRAIL. ·n bell for the Del a wares h ave none '· and yet upon that ;~rl:~: and rnde settlement was the same spiri~ of Sabba~h re- pose and tranq u1' ll1't Y a s in some little N w England Vlllage among the mountai.n s o f New Hampshire, or the Vermont woods. !-laving at present no leisure {or such re~ecti~ns, we pursued our J. Ourney. A military road led from tins point to Fort Lea-venworth, and for many miles the farms and cabins of the Del-awares were scattered at short intervals on either hand. The little rude structures of logs, erected usually on the borders of a tract of woods, made a picturesque feature in the landscape. But the scenery needed no foreign aid. Nature had done enough for it ; and the alternation 'of rich green prairies and groves that stood in clusters, or lined the banks of the numerous little streams, had all the softened and polished beauty of a reo·ion that has been for centuries under the hand of n1an. At b that early season, too, it was in the height of its freshness and luxuriance. The woods were flushed with the red buds of the maple; there were frequent flowering shrub unknown in the east; and the green swells of the prairie were thickly tudded with blossoms. Encamping near a spring, by the side of a hill, we resumed our journey in the morning, and early in the afternoon had arrived within a few miles of Fort Leavenworth. The road crossed a stream densely bordered with trees, and running in the bottom of a deep woody hollow. We were about to descend into it, when a wild and confused procession appeared, passing through the water below, and coming up the steep ascent toward us. vV e stopped to let them pass. They were Delawares, just returned from a hunting expedition. All, both men BREAKING THE ICE. 29 and women, were rnounted on horseback, and drove along with then1 a considerable number of pack-mules, laden with the furs they had taken, together with the buffalo-robes, kettles, and other articles of their travelling equipment, which, as well as their clothing and their weapons, had a worn and dingy aspect, as if they .had seen hard service of late. At the rear of the party was an old man, who, as he came up, stopped his horse to speak to us. He rode a little tough shaggy pony, with mane and tail well knotted with burs, and a rusty Spanish bit in its mouth, to which, by way of reins, was attached a string of raw hide. f-Iis saddle, robbed probably from a Mexican, had no covering, being merely a tree of the Spanish form, with a piece of grisly bear's skin laid over it, a pair of rude wooden stirrups attached, and in the absence of girth, a thong of hide passing around the horse's belly. The rider's dark features and keen snaky eye were unequivocally Indian. He wore a buckskin frock, which. lik~ his fringed leggings, was well polished and blackened Ly grease and long service ; and an old handkerchief was tied around his head. Resting on the saddle before him, lay his rifle; a weapon in the use of which the Delawares are skilful, though, from its weight, the distant pra1ne Indians are too lazy to carry it. ' Who 's your chief?' he immediately inquired. I-Ienry Chatillon pointed to us. The old Delaware fixed his eyes intently upon us for a moment, and then sententiously remarked: 'No good ! Too young !' With this flattering cornment he left us, and rode after his people. This tribe, the Del a wares, once the peaceful allies of William Penn, the tributaries of the conquering Iroquois, are |