THE AMERICANS AND THE ABORIGINES. 327 



upon his mind, or to risk the discovery of the nook 

 in which, for seven years, he had been unseen by an 

 American eye, set off with a party of warriors in 

 pursuit of the young Englishman. 



III. 



The mood of mind in which we left, our young 

 Englishman may aptly be compared with that of the 

 assassin neophytes, whom, according to the tale, the 

 Old Man of the Mountain was wont to introduce into 

 an enchanted garden, peopled with ravishing houris, 

 whence, after a short enjoyment of the most volup- 

 tuous delights, he again thrust them forth into the 

 dark and dismal night of the desert, with nothing 

 remaining of their past pleasures save a wild con- 

 fusion of the senses, a chaos of images and visions, 

 and a burning desire to recover the lost paradise. 

 True it is, as our readers know, that the young sailor 

 had no such enjoyments to regret, and equally true 

 that his own wish had driven him from his Eden ; 

 but he nevertheless experienced the tumult and con- 

 fusion of thought, and the longing to return, above 

 described. It seemed as if the nobler and inferior 

 qualities of his nature were striving within him, the 

 two principles alternately, as either got the upper 

 hand, impelling him onwards and calling him back. 

 A full hour elapsed, during which he several times 



