FAMILIAR SCENES ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 



As our magnificent Union has increased in popula- 

 tion, the aborigines within the " older States " have be- 

 come constantly more and more degraded. " The Grov- 

 ernment," as the most merciful policy, has taxed its 

 energies to remove these red men from the viciuit}- of 

 civilization, to homes still wild and primitive, west of 

 the Mississippi. There, a vast extent of country is still 

 unoccupied, in which he can pursue, comparatively unre- 

 strained, his inclinations, and pluck a few more days of 

 happiness before his sun entirel}- sets. 



Occasionally may be seen in the southwest, a large 

 body of these people, under the charge of a " govern- 

 ment officer," going to the new homes provided for them 

 by their "white father." These " removals ■' are always 

 melancholy exhibitions. The Indians, dispirited and 

 heart-broken, entirely hopeless of the future, with dog- 



