THE AMERICANS AND THE ABORIGINES. 319 



They appeared to have taken their places according 

 to their rank, the inner half-circle being composed of 

 the older warriors, whilst the young men formed a 

 second and third line. In the centre of the curve sat 

 an old warrior, on whom the eyes of the assembly 

 were respectfully fixed, and whose remarkable ex- 

 terior, combined with the deference shown him, be- 

 spoke the chief of the tribe. It would be difficult to 

 imagine a more singular, and at the same time interest- 

 ing-looking person, than this old man, whose body 

 seemed to consist of nothing but skin and bone. All 

 the coarse and fleshy portions of his frame were dried 

 up, and only veins and sinews remained. His open 

 hunting-shirt disclosed a breast far broader than that 

 of any one of his companions, resembling a board that 

 had been chopped and hacked, so covered was it with 

 the scars of many wounds. The chief characteristic of 

 his countenance was a gloomy stoical gravity, mingled 

 with a resigned expression, telling a tale of many a 

 fearful struggle, and of grievous mental suffering. 

 The fall of his tribe, and seven years' exile, had 

 brought about this change in the Miko of the 

 Oconees. 



The old man was Tokeah, who, driven by the Amer- 

 icans from his hunting-grounds, had taken refuge, 

 with the remnant of his tribe, upon Mexican terri- 

 tory. Canondah was his daughter, and the young man 

 whom she rescued from the jaws of the alligator was 

 an English midshipman belonging to a frigate em- 



VOL. in. 



