﻿A RESIDENCE AMONG THE INDIANS. 



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and the boat pushed off from the shore, and, after firing a salute, 

 which was answered from the fort, she dashed proudly down the 

 stream. Hundreds of savages, from ail parts of the surrounding 

 country, had gathered upon the banks of the river, rending the air 

 with their deafening yells, each one decked and painted in their 

 customary gaudy manner, and apparently highly delighted to wit- 

 ness the departure of the " Big Thunder canoe." Some were gazing 

 intently upon the departing boat ; some were playing at ball upon 

 the plain, while others, in little groups, were indolently reclining 

 before their witnvams. I ascended a little hillock a short distance 



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from the fort, and, seating myself upon the ground, \vatched the 

 departing vessel, which was rapidly bearing away from me almost 

 the last vestige of civilization, as she grew fainter and fainter in the 

 distance, until at last a bend in the river intervened, and she was 

 entirely hid from my view. The prospect from this lovely spot was 

 entirely beyond description, and although the charming landscape is 

 even now fresh in my recollection, still it would be in vain to attempt 

 to convey to my young friends anything like a correct idea of its 

 splendor. Before me lay the broad bosom of the " Father of 

 Waters," while far to the north, over the boundless desert, rose 

 one above the other, a succession of gracefully sloping hills, covered 

 at that time with herds of grazing buffalo. The sun was just sink- 

 ing behind the hills, and a cool autumn wind moaned among the 



