216 THE CRAVE OF THE INDIAN KING. 



forests in which it was embosomed full, as though struck by the 

 wand of a magician; when it l;iy amidst the a\vful stillness and ve- 

 nerable grandeur which prevailed around the dark foliage, the rich 

 and solemn covering of the woods, giving it an air of indescribable 

 magnificence and beauty, in perfect keeping with the moody and 

 contemplative habits of the mighty chieftains of the wilderness. 



The attractive sheet of water which we have thus briefly described 

 is sixteen miles long, and from one to two miles in breadth. The 

 village which takes its name from the lake, is pleasantly situated 

 upon a little plain at its western extremity, elevated but a few feet 

 above the pebbly beach, upon which the little crisped billows break 

 so gently as scarcely to give sound enough to hush an infant to repose. 

 The view is charming at all times; but nothing can be more delight- 

 ful, more exquisitely beautiful, than the prospect from this lovely 

 village on a cool summer's evening, when the Queen of night throws 

 her silver mantle over the sparkling waters, lighting them up like a 

 mirror of surpassing brightness. Behind the village the l.md rises, 

 by an easy ascent, into a hill of moderate height, upon the summit 

 of which an open grove of primitive forest trees, to the extent of some 

 fifty acres, has been suffered to remain by the owner an Englishman, 

 who has thus far followed the westward march of empire. From 

 this elevated spot the prospect is enlarged, and if possible yet more 

 attractive than below. It includes a wide sweep of fertile country, 

 embracing sections both \\ild and cultivated, farm houses and country 

 seats, fields diversified witii gardens, and meadows, orchards, copses, 

 and groves. Near the centre of this forest rises a little mound, cover- 

 ed with wild and luxuriant herbage, like a Druid's grave; and which, 

 time immemorial, has been respected by the pale-faces, who have 

 succeeded the dusk) lords to whom the Creator originally granted 

 the fee-simple of the soil, as the lone and hallowed sepulchre of an 

 Indian king. Indeed, tradition has invested it with more interest 

 than often attaches to the last narrow habitation even of those who 

 may have figured largely in story or in song. Be mine the humble 

 task to gather up the history of the sacred spot, and rescue the fleet- 

 ing tradition alike from the danger of exaggeration or the yawning 

 repository of oblivion. 



The district in which the incidents of our drama occurred is situated 

 in the heart of what was formerly the territory of the live Nations of 

 Indians the Iroquois of the French, and the Mingoes of the early 

 English history. These nations consisted of the Mohawks, the 

 Oneydoes, the Onondagoes, the Cayugas, and the Senekas. They 

 were a noble race of the American aboriginals, and have been appro- 



