them. All this may have been so, but there is not the slightest reason to believe it. At the time of the arrival of the Europeans, and, in all probability, long before, the golden and the brazen ages of Indian history bad passed away, and had been succeeded, as in other countries, by an age of iron. The various petty tribes were in a state of constant war; of bloody, exterminating war; of war, as in all after times, which knew no distinction of age, sex, or condition. And their own situation and traditions, the offensive and defensive armor which was used, and the numberless fortifications scattered through the country, prove, that this last and worst curse, which could befal them, had been operating for ages.

The bounties of Providence, offered to these deluded people for their comfort and subsistence, on the land and in the water, were wilfully rejected for pursuits, which rendered it unsafe to traverse their forests, or to resort to their rivers and lakes. By Mr Heckewelder's own account, the Delawares were intruders in the Ohio and Atlantic countries, and obtained possession by the extermination of their predecessors

But independently of these more general views, which led Mr Heckewelder, in all the wars between the whites and the Indians, to see nothing but a contest of strength and avarice on one side, and of weakness and poverty on the other; his personal predilections for the Delawares, and, we may add, his opportunities of intercourse, which were confined to them, gave a strong bias to his judgment on all questions affecting them. Many of his assertions and conclusions are utterly irreconcilable, not only with the most authentic accounts, which have reached us, but with the traditions of other tribes, and with well known circumstances, in which the Delawares have been placed. In fact, his history, if true, would unhinge all our knowledge upon these subjects, and would destroy every vestige of confidence in the early French authors, who wrote almost two centuries ago, under favorable circumstances for observation; and whose knowledge of the Indians extended to every tribe east of the Mississippi, and west of the Allegany mountains. It is not probable, that Mr Heckewelder had the means of comparing these statements with the traditions of the Delawares. He quotes but two or three of them, and these for other purposes. One he designates Father La Hontan, doubtless by an oversight.

La Hontan was a soldier by profession, a skeptic in principle, and a very Münchausen in the narrative of his adventures. His whole account of the Long River is an impudent fiction, utterly irreconcilable with the known geography of the country; and his character is well drawn by Charlevoix. This author says, that the great liberty, which La Hontan gave to his pen, contributed much to make his book read and sought after by those, who could not tell to what a degree truth and falsehood were confounded in it; and adds, that an intimate knowledge of the history of Canada is necessary to enable a reader to separate one from the other. 'In short,' continues Charlevoix, 'almost all his proper names are mangled, the greater portion of his facts are disfigured, and entire episodes are inserted, which are pure fictions, such as the voyage on the Long River, not less fabulous than the isle of Barataria, of which Sancho Panza was made governor.' 'En effet presque tous les noms propres y sont estropiés, la plupart des faits y sont défigûres, et l'on y trouve des épisodes entiers, qui sont des pures fictions, tel qu'est le voyage sur la Riviére Longue, aussi fabuleuse, que l'Isle Barataria, dont Sancho Pansa fut fait le gouverneur.'

The effect of Mr Heckewelder's work, upon the prevailing notions respecting Indian history, is every day more and more visible. It has furnished materials for the writers of periodical works, and even of history; and in one of those beautiful delineations of American scenery, incidents, and manners, for which we are indebted to the taste and talent of our eminent novelist, 'the last of the Mohegans' is an Indian of the school of Mr Heckewelder, and not of the school of nature.* To counteract these erroneous opinions, we shall enumerate some of the more prominent errors, into which

* An anecdote has just gone the round of the papers, which admirably illustrates this misapplication of the feelings and sentiments of civilised life to the Indians. In the account of the introduction of Red Jacket to Lafayette, it is said, that Lafayette asked him, where was the young Seneca, who, in 1784, at Fort Schuyler, so eloquently opposed the burying of the tomahawk. 'The old warrior replied, with all his native peculiarity, "He has the honor to stand before you." Native peculiarity indeed! This might suit a Parisian dancing master. If such a question were ever put to Red Jacket, we venture to say, he struck his breast, elevated himself, and exclaimed, Eeh! It is not a month since we saw, in a respectable paper, an account of a society among the Menomonies, to which persons were admitted by ballot, and where all the ballots must be unanimous to authorise admission!

the author has fallen; contenting ourselves with the tribute we have already paid to the memory of Mr Heckewelder, and to the merits of the work.

The orthography adopted for the name, by which the Delawares distinguished themselves, Lenni Lenape, is not correct, and conveys a very erroneous idea of the sound. It should be written Lenee Lenaupé, with the accent on the last syllable, and a strong expiration of the breath; conveying a sound, which has no exact representative in the English alphabet. Mr Heckewelder indulges himself in much speculation, concerning the meaning of these words. Lenno, he says, is man, and Lenape, original. Lenee is undoubtedly used by the Delawares, in a restricted sense, to signify man. But its more general and proper meaning, is male. Our word original conveys an improper idea of the Delaware word Lenaupé. Its true meaning is common; and it is applied to such objects, either of nature or of art, as are of common occurrence. Thus, Aughkweeyun is cloth, and Lenee Aughkweeyun, is common cloth, such as the Indians ordinarily use. Piyaughkeekun is a gun, and Lenee Piyaughkeekun, is a fusil, or common gun, as contradistinguished from a rifle. The signification of original, given by Mr Heckewelder to the word Lenaupé, furnishes him with an argument to support his favorite theory, that the Delawares are the stock from which all the other Indians descended.* Even if this application were well established, it would only evince a little. national vanity, too common and too harmless for serious examination. A similar instance is found in a remote tribe under the arctic circle, who, according to Captain Franklin, designate themselves, the People.†

No inconsiderable portion of this work is devoted to a description of the claims, advanced by the Delawares to a superiority over the other Indians, and to a recapitulation of their traditions upon this subject. Had the author's acquaintance with the various tribes been more general, he would have known, that these claims were too frequent among them

* There seems to be much confusion in Mr Heckewelder's own ideas of the name in question, as may be seen by comparing the passages in which he speaks of it. See pp. 25, 368, 412.

+Franklin's Narrative, p. 142.

to be entitled to much consideration. The traditions of almost all of them bear too evident marks of national partiality, to be received without due caution. The patronymic name, Grandfather, applied by most of the tribes to the Delawares, and so much relied upon by Mr Heckewelder, furnishes no ground for the conclusion which he draws. The family appellations, given by various tribes to one another, cannot be traced to any relations, which have subsisted between them, since their history has been known to us. This is a curious subject, and involved in much obscurity. Perhaps a full consideration of it might lead to important conclusions. They seem to have considered themselves members of one family, standing in different degrees of relation to one another. Of this family, the Wyandot tribe is the elder brother. All the other tribes, except the Delaware, acknowledge this claim of primogeniture, on the part of the Wyandots. The Delawares call them uncle, and this relation is acknowledged by the use of the corresponding term nephew. The terms, grandfather and grandchildren, are interchangeably used between the other tribes and the Delawares. Of those, some are brothers, and some younger brothers. And it is not a little remarkable, that these claims of kindred seem to have no connexion with the present languages spoken by the Indians. We should naturally expect, that the most remote relations would be found subsisting between tribes, whose languages are radically different; being probably descended from different stocks, or from the same stock at very different intervals.

We place no reliance on the traditionary narrative, given by the Delawares, of their early migrations. Of all sources of information these legendary tales are the most uncertain.* How many accounts have been given by the Indians, of the former existence of the mammoth, and of the period and circumstances of their extinction? Every reader will recollect the speech in the Notes on Virginia,' respecting the escape of the last of the species. And yet all these pretended traditions must have been mere fictions, probably in

*In the second volume of Major Long's first expedition, page 371, in a report from that officer to the War Department, are some sound and judicious observations, concerning the value of Indian traditions. They accord entirely with our observation, and we recommend their perusal to all, who are disposed to give much credit to these legends.

vented to satisfy the inquiries of the white man. Geologists are now teaching us, that these remains are wrecks of the antediluvian world.

The account given by the Delawares, of the destruction of the Allegewi, is probably entitled to similar credit. The derivation of the present name of the Allegany river from that word may be correct. Our information does not enable us to form an opinion upon this point. But it adds little to the probability of the story, which it is introduced to support, if it be as erroneous as the derivation of the word Mississippi. Mr Heckewelder derives this from Namæs, a fish, and Sipu, river. A most unfortunate appellation for the Mississippi, unless it is intended to denote, that very few fish are found in it. The fact is, the name is derived from two Chippewa words, Meesee, great, and Seepee, river. This word Meesee, or Meechee, for it is differently pronounced in different places, is found in Michigan, Michilimackinac, Missouri, Mississaugau, and in many other names.

The ancient fortifications, scattered through the United States, and attributed by Mr Heckewelder to these Allegewi, have been the fruitful source of abundant speculation. We have no doubt, that they were erected by the forefathers of the present Indians, as places of refuge against the incursions of their enemies, and of security for their women and children, when they were compelled to leave them for the duties of the chase.* And much of the mystery, in which this subject has been involved, owes its origin to a want of due consideration of the circumstances and condition of the Indians. We do not reflect on their almost infinite division into petty tribes, and on their hereditary and exterminating hostilities. Nor have we reflected, that the stone tomahawk is a very inefficient instrument for cutting timber into palisades; nor that, if fire be adopted as a substitute, the process is tedious and laborious. Their transportation, too, must have been a serious objection to their use, and in a few years they required renewal. Even when otherwise proper, they were always liable to be burned by the enemy. These circum

* Wherever the human race is placed, similar circumstances lead to similar customs. Dr Clarke remarks, that, a peculiar circumstance characterised the topography of ancient Greece. Every metropolis possessed its citadel and plain; the citadel as a place of refuge during war, the plain as a source of agriculture during peace.'