THE 



CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY. — INDIAN TRIBES EAST OF THE 

 MISSISSIPPI. 



The Indian is a true .child of the forest and the 

 desert. The wastes and solitudes of nature are his 

 congenial home. His haughty mind is imbued 

 with the spirit of the wilderness, and the light of 

 civilization falls on him with a blighting power. 

 His unruly pride and untamed freedom are in har- 

 mony with the lonely mountains, cataracts, and 

 rivers among w^hich he dwells; and primitive 

 America, with her savage scenery and savage men, 

 opens to the imagination a boundless world, un- 

 matched in wild sublimity. 



The Indians east of the Mississippi may be di- 

 vided into several great families, each distinguished 

 by a radical peculiarity of language. In their 

 moral and intellectual, their social and political 

 state, these various families exhibit strong shades 



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