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INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 



the same material which Cooper employed in his 'Wept of Wish- 

 ton-Wish' (1829), namely the great struggle between the Puri- 

 tains of C-onnecticut and the Indians under Metacom, commonly 

 known as King Philip's War. But Scherr is by no means a mere 

 imitator of Cooper. In his hands the same theme receives widely 

 different treatment. As might be expected of the well-known writer 

 of the 'Bildersaal der Weltlitteratur ' (1848), the 'Geschichte 

 der englisehen Litteratur' (1854), and the 'Allgemeine Geschiehte 

 der Litteratur von den altesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart' 

 (1851), Scherr has carefully studied the historical background of 

 this work and has woven a considerable amount of early colonial 

 history into the story. Roger AVilliams, the colonial apostle of 

 religious liberty, and the sturdy warrior Miles Standish them- 

 selves enter into the novel. The work gives evidence of the au- 

 thor's wide acquaintance with American letters. He had studied 

 the work of George Katlin on the American Indian. Also Brad- 

 ford, Allston, Hemans, Talvj, Irving (whom he calls the greatest 

 writer America has produced), Ilalleck and Follenius are men- 

 tioned. 



Though 'Die Pilger der Wildnis' is far from being an imita- 

 tion of Cooper's 'Wept of Wish-ton-Wish, ' it nevertheless bears 

 abundant evidence of the influence of Cooper. To the reader of 

 the 'Leatherstocking Tales' there is something very familiar in the 

 following lines : Er war von fast riesenmassigem Wuchse und 

 stand, um einen Ausdruck des Landes zu gebrauchen, in welchem 

 unsere Geschiehte spielt, weit iiber sechs Fuss hoch in seinen 

 Schuen oder veilmehr Mokasins (indianisehen Schuhen), an 

 welche sich Kamaschen von Hirschhaut anschlossen, die bis iiber 

 die Knie hinaufreichten. Er trug ein Koller von Biiffelhaut, und 

 ein Mantel vom namlichen Stotfe lag zu seinen Piissen. Auf dem 

 Kopfe hatte er eine Miitze von Wolf sf ell, um die Lenden einen 

 roll gearbeiteten Gurt von Otternpelz, an welchem Pulverhorn 

 und Kugelbeutel hingen. . . . Die Biichse, welche er an einem 

 Lederstrick auf dem Riicken trug, entsprach an Grosse und 

 Sell were der Gestalt ihres Eigentiimers, denn man wiirde sie heut- 

 zutage fiiglich ein Standrohr nennen. " This is part of the descrip- 

 tion of the old Dutch trapper, Groot Willem, one of the "Vorlau- 

 fer und Wegbahner europaischer Kultur" in the new world. It 

 is not difficult to recognize that he is a descendant of Leather- 

 stocking. Like Natty Bumpo he had in his long intercourse with 

 the Indians also taken on something of their character and their 

 laconicism. Occasionally, too, Groot Willem assumes Natty 's 



