SWANS, HERONS, AND HAWKS. 69 



been laid bare by tbe stream, a party of Indians of 

 the Cherokee tribe had pitched their tents, evidently 

 for the purpose of laying in their winter stock of 

 hickory nuts (which abound about here), and of 

 hunting the bears, deer, and hares, all of which, like 

 the Red Skins themselves, are attracted to these 

 parts by the abundance of the crop. 



My companion, who sjjoke the language of these 

 wild hunters of the forest very fluenth'-, proposed 

 that we should pay a visit to the wagwams of the 

 Cherokees, and I was not loth to comply, for I was 

 very desirous of being initiated into the ways of 

 these people, and even of accompanying them on 

 the hunting path. An instinctive sympathy soon 

 unites those who have similar tastes, whatever nation 

 they belong to, and the Indians were as fond of 

 hunting, fishing, and adventure as either myself or 

 my friend, so we soon got to understand each other ; 

 and on the first evening of our arrival among them 

 we were the best friends in the world. 



Next morning, at daybreak, I heard a great move- 

 ment around our boat, and on peeping out of our 

 cabin door I saw about a dozen Indians, men and 

 women, launching their big canoe of maple bark, 

 and getting ready to cross the river into the State of 

 Illinois. I and my friend dressed ourselves without 

 delay, and we were not long in learning the plans of 

 the Eed Skins. They wished to visit a large lake, 

 which was frequented by swans, in such numbers 



