116 THE HIVE OF THE BEE-HUNTER. 



and slept through the entire twenty-four hours of the 

 day. Of all the remarkable traits of character that dig- 

 nify them in history, we could not discern the least 

 trace ; yet among the brutal, insensible savages at our 

 feet, were many daring spirits, who had displayed in 

 their warfare with the whites, dangerous talents, and 

 taken many a bloody scalp. The girls were possessed 

 of little or no personal charms, while the women, the la- 

 borers of the tribe, were as hideous as any hags that can 

 be imagined. 



The heat of the weather and the confinement of the 

 boat, had a dreadful effect upon these poor wretches ; 

 sickness rapidly broke out among them, and as they 

 stoutly refused to take the white man's medicine, their 

 chances of recovery were poor indeed. 



The tender was turned into a perfect lazar-house, 

 and nothing could be seen but the affecting attentions 

 of the old squaws to their friends and relatives, as they 

 wasted away before their eyes. The infant and patri- 

 arch were side by side, consuming with slow fever, while 

 the corpse of some middle-aged person lay at their feet, 

 waiting for the funeral rites and the obscurity of the 

 grave. Vain were the prescriptions of the " medicine 

 man " of their tribe ; he blew his breath through a gaudy 

 colored reed upon the faces of his patients, and recited 

 his incantations, but without success. He disfigured his 

 person with new paint, and altered his devices daily, still 

 his patients would die, and at every landing where the 



