108 courame'. 



love of country was renewed in all its force. In her impatience she 

 counted the days and hours which then intervened before the expect- 

 ed arrival of her countrymen. The present time is ever a weight to 

 a mind which only feeds on hope. Courame ran over, in her memo- 

 ry, all the words of the language she so well knew before her cap- 

 ture. She felt sure of being recognized by her friends, for though 

 she lived in the splendour of riches, and though her clothes were very 

 costly, she always preserved something of the Indian costume, and 

 wore the long smooth tresses of the Galibis women. Her ears were 

 adorned with coral, her neck was enriched by a chain of red seeds, 

 and her bracelets were composed of little sea shells. Madame de St. 

 Croix, who was proud of the elegance of her adopted daughter, liked 

 to perceive in her attire these distinctive characteristics of her nation. 



The arrival of the Indians was hailed with universal joy. They 

 marched in file, one following another, after the manner in which they 

 were obliged to traverse their own woods. The whole population of 

 the colony ran out to see them pass. The savage is always an object 

 of curiosity to the civilized man. The young Courame could not 

 contain her transport on beholding the people of her tribe. In the 

 language of the Galibis, she entreated them to give her news of her 

 mother, she spared uo signs or gestures to make herself understood, 

 and sought the answers in their looks. Her imagination beheld in 

 them her parents, her home, all the territory of the Approuague. 



Amongst the Indians who came with this deputation to the gover- 

 nor there were several of good stature and noble appearance. The 

 son of Almiki was distinguished above them all by his costume, 

 which was more gracefully arranged than that of his companions. 

 He was armed like a warrior and had a commanding air, though his 

 countenance was thoughtful and melancholy. His features, however, 

 became less austere when he perceived Courame. But the latter 

 directed her attention to a group of Norague women, who walked 

 behind, carrying fermented liquors and some flour of manioc, to 

 make a sort of thickened soup for their husbands. The Indian 

 women were clothed more modestly than they were wont to be, and 

 most of them were adorned with feathers : they wore petticoats of 

 blue worsted or calico, which is the favourite colour of the Noragues. 

 Some of them had heightened their complexion by paint. They 

 walked in buskins or shoes ingeniously woven with rushes and cotton 

 threads. Notwithstanding this rather whimsical costume, Courame" 

 was enchanted to see them, and thought that their ornaments were 

 preferable to those with which she was adorned. She envied their 



