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58 
field ; and his bow to pierce the deer that 
flies through the woods. 
«« No orator of antiquity ever exceeded this 
savage chief in the force of his emphasis, 
and the propriety of his gesture. Indeed, 
the whole scene was highly dignified. ‘The 
fierceness of his countenance, the flowing 
robe, elevated tone, naked arm, and erect 
stature, witha circle of auditors seated on 
the ground, and in the open air, could not 
but impress upon the mind a lively idea of 
the gelebratel speakers of ancient Greece and 
Rome. 
« Having ended his oration, the Indian 
struck his war-club with fury against the 
ground, and the whole party obeyed the 
signal by joining in a war-dance ;—leaping 
and brandishing their knives at the throats 
of each other, and accompanying their me- 
nacing attitudes with a whoop and a yell, 
which echoed with ten-fold horror from the 
banks of the river. 
«©The dance took place by moon-light, 
and it was searcely finished, when the chief 
produced a keg of whiskey, and having taken 
a draught, passed it round among his bre- 
thren. ‘The squaws now moved’ the toma- 
hawks into the woods, and a scene of riot 
ensued. The keg was soon emptied. ‘The 
effects of the liquor began to display itself in 
the looks and motions of the Indians. Some 
rolled their eyes with distraction; others 
could not keep on their legs. Atlength, suc- 
ceeded the most dismal noises. Such hoops, 
such shouts, such roaring, such yells, all the 
devils of hell seemed collected together. 
Each strove to do an outrage on the other. 
This seized the other by the throat; that 
kicked with raging fury at his adversary, 
And to complete the scene, the old warrior 
was uttering the most mournful lamentations 
over the keg he had emptied; inhaling its 
flavour with his lips, holding it out with 
his hands in a supplicating attitude, and vo- 
ciferating to the bye-standers Scuthawawlah ! 
Scultawawlah! More strong drink! More 
strong drink!” 
Among the Americans present at 
this scene, was a young manof gigantic 
stature, a head taller than any of the 
others; the old Indian eyed hm, and 
at length rose and shook him by the 
hand. 
Washington is yet in an infant state: 
when the multitude who had assembled 
at Mr. Jefferson’s inaugural speech had 
returned home, our traveller describes 
the city as affording no objects, but a 
forlorn pilgrim forcing his way through 
the grass that overruns the streets, or a 
cow ruminating on a bank, having round 
her neck a bell, that she might be found 
in the woods. The streets are most m- 
elegantly denominated: East first street, 
West first street, North A street, South 
A street. A wag, says the author, 
. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
would infer that the one were named by 
a pilot, and the other by an alphabetical 
teacher. It has been said that Tiber 
was the original name of the river that 
supplies this city with water, and of 
course the coincidence flattered Ameri- 
can patriotism : but im reality the people 
of Washington themselves know it in 
general by no other name than Goose 
Creek. Between the capitol and presi- 
dent’s house, a well, which had been dug 
to the depth of eleven feet, immediately 
overflowed, and has continued to over- 
flow. 
We are sorry to see the character of 
Franklin studiously depreciated by Mr. 
Davis. The plagiarisms which he has 
so dramatically noticed, have been before 
detected; and it should have been re« 
marked, that, in both instances, Dr. 
Franklin improved upon his originals. 
To Franklin, says this author, must we 
look-for the source of the sordid eco- 
nomy of the American commonwealth. 
“ It was he, who, by diffusing the 
maxims of Poor Richard, made the go- 
vernment of the United States a miserly 
body-politic.””> We should have thought 
that Mr. Davis had travelled in America 
to better purpose than to have brought 
back opinions like these, which can come 
with consistency from none but the 
state-leeches, the blood-suckers of the 
commonwealth: from such as share the 
peculations of M. Talleyrand, or divid 
the cheese-parings and candle-ends here 
at home. If the economy, the dignified 
and honourable economy, of the Ame- 
rican government be indeed attributable 
to the lessons of Benjamin Franklin, a 
yet higher fame is due to that great 
man than he has obtained by “ arresting 
the lightning, and breaking the iron 
rod.” Let him who sneers at the fru- 
gality of the United States, turn to the 
Red. Book and the Tax-T ables for 1803. 
Too much of this volume is occupied 
with the letters of the author’s friend, 
Mr. George; they are probably not pub- 
lished without the writer’s knowledge, 
yet we think they represent him in no 
very favourable light. Mr. Davis him, 
self seems to have been frequently amus- 
ing himself with Rousseau, when he 
would have been more wisely and 
healthily employed in studying Epicte- 
tus. 
The volame concludes with the au- 
thor’svoyage home, dramatically related, 
and in as seaman-like a manner as evey 
delighted a sailor in the prose of Smols 
