[BRYCE] A RARE FIND IN THE CANADIAN ARCHIVES 7 
English stage; but when Mrs. Oldfield arose to be her rival and she 
found on one occasion that her own attractions were waning, she refused 
ever to appear again. 
Tue Story or THE PLAY. 
The locality of the drama, Angia, is not easily identified. The 
author says in his preface that it is synonymous with Agniè, a name 
given by the French to the Mohawks, the most powerful tribe of the 
Iroquois confederacy. It strongly resembles Angwehonwe, an appella- 
tion of the Iroquois, meaning “Superior People.” Lahontan speaks 
of Agnié as the abode of the Iroquois and seems to place it between the 
Hudson River and the present Canadian limits. In Dennis’s time the 
boundaries of Canada would not be very well defined and we may suppose 
that it was in Lahontan’s Agnié that the scene of the tragedy was laid. 
The fortunes of two of the characters of the play, Sakia and her 
son, Ulamar, create the chief human interest of the plot. Sakia was 
a woman of the Huron tribe who, about twelve years before the events 
of the drama had, with her son, been taken captive in a war between 
the Hurons and Iroquois. The two exiles had been kindly treated by 
their captors and allowed every privilege but that of returning to their 
own country. 
In the opening of the drama we learn that the French and Hurons 
had treacherously broken a treaty made between themselves and the 
Iroquois, and a battle had ensued. Okima, the confidential friend of 
Sakia, announces to her the great victory that had been gained by Beau- 
fort, the English commander and her son Ulamar, who, although only 
twenty years of age had, by his prowess and military skill, chiefly taught 
him by Beaufort, attained to the leadership of the Iroquois. 
Instead of rejoicing over the glory won by her son, Sakia manifests 
the keenest disappointment. She had secretly hoped that the Hurons 
would gain the victory as it would mean for her deliverance from slavery 
and a return to her native country. She could then make efforts to 
find her husband, of whom she had not heard for many years. She 
exclaims in her sorrow:— 
“My son’s mistaken valour has outdone us 
And thou, O Miramont, art lost forever.” 
This impulsive allusion to Miramont is the first intimation we have 
of the secret that is weighing upon Sakia’s mind. Okima reasons with 
her friend, pointing out to her the privileges she and her son have enjoyed 
at the hands of the Iroquois and reminding her that Ulamar is not in 
accord with his mother’s sentiments but is at heart an Iroquois. Sakia 
retorts in anger that she owes nothing to the Iroquois—that she had 
