THE AMERICANS AND THE ABORIGINES. 291 



quiver to their foundations. Presently the door of 

 the house was partially opened, and a man's head 

 protruded through the aperture, as if to reconnoitre 

 the cause of the uproar. At the same moment that 

 this occurred, a tall dark figure stepped quickly for- 

 ward, pushed the door wide open, and stalking into 

 the dwelling, took his seat opposite the fireplace, fol- 

 lowed, in deep silence arid with noiseless stride, by a 

 line of similar apparitions. "When all had entered, 

 the door was again closed, and a man of almost 

 colossal frame approached the hearth, where some 

 embers were still smouldering. Throwing on a 

 supply of wood, he lit one of a heap of pine splinters 

 that lay in the chimney corner, and then producing 

 a tallow candle, lighted it, and placed it upon the 

 table. By its glimmering flame, and that of the 

 reviving fire, the interior of the hut, fully corre- 

 sponding with the rough and inartificial exterior, 

 became visible. In the corner opposite the fireplace 

 was the bar or counter, behind whose wooden lattice 

 stood a dozen dirty bottles, and still dirtier jugs and 

 glasses. Below these were three kegs daubed with 

 blue paint, and marked with the Avords, French 

 Brandy, Gin, Monongahela. On one side of the 

 room a pile of deer-hides, of beaver, bear, and fox 

 skins, denoted a frequent intercourse and active trade 

 between the inmates of the tavern and the red men. 

 Xear the skins stood a huge tester-bed, surrounded 

 by three small bedsteads, and a cradle, or rather 



