CROCODILE ISLAND. 69 



fresh as if he had been bathing in the warriors' streams in the 

 shadowy land ? Tell me, my son, that Sisquo Dumf ki has for 

 the last time seen the light of day.' 



" ' I cannot,* I replied ; ^ it goes against my soul. He trusts 

 me — why should I be faithless as the hyena or the white men? — 

 No, mother, let him live, for my spirit bums with admiration of 

 the beautiful Nemrooma.' 



" ^ The feather in thy hair was torn surely from the pigeon's 

 wing, and not the eagle's. What ! hast thou no fear of the wrath 

 of your father, whose form I often see gloomily reposing beneath 

 the shadow of the stately palm-tree which he loved the most — 

 fearest thou not that, rushing from the land of spirits, he blasts 

 thee to the earth, with the sight of those frowning brows, which 

 no mortal can look upon and live ? Away ! thou art unworthy 

 of the blood of a thousand forest kings, who, long ere we removed 

 to these plains, reigned on the shores of the eternal Sire of Ri- 

 vers ; * and unworthier still, since you prefer your love to your 

 revenge, of the ancestry of the Milesian lords, the O'Flaherties of 

 the Tipperary wilds.' — I stood astonished at this torrent of indig- 

 nation, but my rage was at length roused as she proceeded, — 

 * Nemrooma ! and what seest thou in that paltry girl to wean thee 

 from the nobler passion of vengeance ? But cease to cherish fan- 

 tastic hopes — the setting sun of yesterday went down upon her 

 death.' 



" ' What ! hast thou dared to blight the lily which I intended 

 to carry to my bosom — how ? when ? where ? ^ 



" ' The Alatamaha is broad and deep,' replied my mother, ' a 

 canoe is frail and slight — ill may a maiden's arm contend with an 

 impetuous river. Alone in a fragile bark — unused to the paddle 

 — she was floated down the stream.' 



u I Wretch,' I exclaimed, losing all respect for her dignity, in 

 the rage that seized me an account of her cruelty, 'you shall 

 dearly pay for this. Ere the palm trees are gilded seven times 

 with the morning and evening suns, expect my return and to suf- 

 fer for your crimes.' 



"I rushed into the open air as I spoke, and leaving tents 

 wigwams, friends, and subjects far behind me, I darted into the 

 thickest of the forest, and pursued my way to a winding of the 

 river where I kept a canoe constantly prepared for my fishing 

 expeditions. In it I found a supply of provisions, my rods and 



* Mississippi—Father of Rivers. 



