of a cold winter's night, the winds might whistle and the storms blow to their heart's content.

This five minutes' fantasia of mine was broken by the return of my sweetheart, armed cap-a-pie for a contest with the keen north wind; and I thought she never looked prettier than at that moment. She wore a neat, well-fitting, and well-padded ridinghat of black velvet, ornamented with a single black ostrich feather, à la Kossuth, as we should say in these days; a "boa" of lynx fur, and of comfortable-looking proportions, was thrown about her neck, above the cloak, and her little feet were fortified with a pair of neat, fur-bound, weather-defying rubber over-shoes. Her mother followed, bringing the indispensable and capacious muff; and, thus accoutred, we jumped into the sleigh, wrapped the buffalo about our shoulders, received a parting injunction from the good old dame, charging us to be "very careful," to which we, of course, answered, "Yes, ma'am," and set forth.

another, just, as it seemed, to tantalize the beaux, and make their mouths water. This ceremony was hardly over before another cutter drove up, and then another, making the party complete; and, after another shaking of hands and another volley of effeminate kisses, the male members of the party took a glass of cider-and-ginger round, and the girls were treated each to a sip of "perfect love," the approved cordial of the time.

Every thing being now ready for the drive, a question arose as to who should lead off. I proposed that this post of honor should be given to the oldest couple of the party; but, as we were just casting about to find out the patriarchial two, my near neighbor, Isaac Jenkins, Esq., suggested that, as I had come out expressly to "break the road," it wouldn't be courteous to baffle my intention, and › therefore I must be permitted to play the part of pioneer. This suggestion was responded to with a most unanimous and hearty approval by all present, except myself; and remonstrance proving vain, Mercy and I took the lead. All I can say is, that if there were any slow horses behind us, they had to work up to time that night.

of my life, I dared not touch them, nor even utter a word of that which I most longed to say. So there we sat, gliding swiftly through the glorious moonlight, talking gossip, and laughing at our own nonsense.

Ten minutes brought us to the rendezvous, two miles from home. There we found the projector of the expedition, with his cher aimé, Betty Wardle, and her brother Joe, with his inamorata, already in waiting; two more couples were yet wanting to complete the party of ten, so we all went into the tavern, shook hands heartily all round, and the girls threw away fictitious kisses on one

My companion and myself were always agreed on one point, we were both fond of riding after fast horses. She was vivacious, light-hearted, and gentle, but liked any thing better than sentimentality; the slow-coach system never agreed with her temperament; in her younger days, she was always seek

or the impulsive; and I often thought that, if I could catch her in a moment of extreme peril, and romantically bear her in safety out of danger, this would be the way to win her. And she was worth the winning, too; for, with all her girlish spirit, she had a soul of angelic intelligence and sweetness, and a mind as pure as the snow over which we were gliding. She is my wife now. You shall know how it came about.

I can't tell how many times I had asked her to become my wife, but it was a great many. She never said no to my entreaties, but invariably turned my suit aside with a

mirthful sally or good-natured evasion, always leaving the door of hope wide open, and, as I thought, rather encouraging than repelling my desires. Still, I made no visible progress in her affections, and was still, again and again, left to hope on and trust in Providence.

I have already told you that on this eventful night she looked prettier than ever; and I may add that, with the combined effects of the cold, bracing air and the excitement of the ride, as we bounced over the unbroken and unequal road, as she appeared in the broad moonlight, her beauty was increased to a perfect loveliness. I could have devoured her with kisses; but my earnest looks found no response in her coquettish eyes, and I dared not venture. My soul, however, was too full to be thus restrained; again it spoke the story of my love in a strain of earnest pleading, and again received the usual non-committal reply, with no recompense.

Half vexed at her coyness, which I began to attribute to either affectation or genuine coquetry, my heart grew heavy, my spirits suddenly fell down to the freezing-point, and I said but little. Earnestly wishing that our ride was ended, and resolved to shorten it, I struck into a bye-road, which, by a cross-cut, would lead us nearer home than the road first contemplated. My patience had been drawn to its full tension, my spirit was mortified, and I thought I had made up my mind that, after leaving Mercy at her father's house that night, I never would seek her presence more.

An exclamation of surprise arose from our companions in the rear as they saw me leave the high road; but I heeded them not, and drove on; they followed. My partner in the ride knew too well the cause, to question me on the subject, and we continued in silence. Mercy grew evidently uneasy, from what cause I cannot pretend to say, because I never after questioned her upon the subject; but, from certain unequivocal demonstrations, it was plain she was conscious that something was wrong. Neither of us uttered

a syllable for a distance of at least two long and tedious miles.

It may be that I had become less careful than usual of my duties as a driver; very likely that was the case, for I confess that my mind was in no small degree mystified, and I had little conception of where we were going, whether up hill, down hill, over a gully, or round a corner; or it may have been that both my horse and myself were traversing a road, with the various windings and turnings of which we were unfamiliar. Be that as it may, certain it is that, in the midst of a most ill-natured reverie, I suddenly found myself and my companion flying in the air over a short precipice, and the vehicle in which we had been riding, broadside uppermost, gliding away at the rate of ten knots an hour. In plain parlance, our cutter was upset, and we were thrown neck and heels from a promontory.

True to the instincts of nature, prompted by its first law, the lady, on discovering the eccentric motion of the vehicle, had thrown a delicate arm about my neck, with which she clung to me for dear life. Of course, I lost no time in returning the compliment with interest, and, clasping her gentle form in both my arms, in this posture we went together down a flight of some ten feet, full length, into an accommodating snow-bank. The slight exclamation of fright that escaped the lips of the lady was smothered, half uttered, by a mouthful of the frigid moisture; for, be it understood, our descent was not ended until we had penetrated a distance of at least two feet into the very bowels of the

snow.

I satisfied myself in an instant that neither of us had received bodily injury, and then and there, under that bank of snow, clasped as we were in each other's arms, face to face, and quite secure from the prying eyes of the outer world, I first yielded to temptation, and inflicted on her rosy and unresisting lips a kiss, warm and ardent enough to melt a snow-bank as tall as Vesuvius. I will not tell how many times the process was repeated, nor how I wished that the snow might

cover us for an indefinite period; but, in less than one minute, we were interrupted, and four stout pairs of hands were busily engaged in the unthankful employment of digging us out. In less than five minutes we were all again safely on the road. My pony, like a well-bred fellow as he was, stopped, according to custom, whenever he discovered any thing wrong; and the cutter having been placed once more on its runners, we blew the snow out of our mouths, and resumed our seats and journey.

I need not say that the accident was the means of restoring the faculty of speech, which a transient taciturnity had interrupted. Moreover, I felt within me a renewed soul; the sweets of a daring indulgence were burning on my lips, and I determined at once to place my destiny on the hazard of a die. The work must be done, thought I, now or

never, once for all; and, without waiting for reflection to cool my resolve, I at once insisted, tenderly and respectfully, yet earnestly, on a categorical answer to my offer of marriage. Mercy hesitated a moment, but at length, in a timid voice, expressed the opinion that "matters had gone too far now to recede; and on the whole, she was sorry that she hadn't said so before, for she had long wanted to, but didn't know how to go

about it."

Reader, you may as well take it for granted that we were not long in making up a wedding party after that; for I can state, without the fear of contradiction, that there are four bouncing witnesses of the fact; and I can further assure you that I never behold a regular down-east snow-storm without thinking with gratitude of my "first kiss and last time of asking." God bless the snow!

UTHENTIC records and descriptions of the race of men who alone inhabited this portion of the American continent at the time of the discovery by Columbus, are so rare, that we are induced to present the following interesting article on that subject. It was originally written for Mellen's Book of the United States, by a gentleman whose statements are not drawn from hearsay, nor brief and transient glimpses of the people he describes, but from the experience of several years of intimate association with various tribes. As the race of Red Men declines, our interest towards it increases.

"There are few topics on which so much has been written, and to so little purpose, as the character, manners, habits, and origin of the aborigines of North America. Novelists, poets, travelers, and philosophers, have all failed to convey an adequate idea of them. This arises, in our opinion, in a great measure from the modern propensity to generalization. A writer who has been present at an Indian council, has seen the nonchalant demeanor of the chiefs, and has heard the tropes and metaphors with which they garnish their discourse, gravely states that the self-possession of all Indians can never be disturbed by any circumstances, and that the refinements of poetry and oratory are as familiar in their mouths as household words. Another, who sees the women performing the hard labor of their families, while the men stand idly by, pronounces that squaws are regarded as slaves. Now our experience assures us that the premises on which such general conclusions are based are almost always fallacious.

"Two great families of Indians seem, from time immemorial, to have occupied the country between the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic, viz.: the Dahcotahs, and the Chippeway or Algonquin race. The former are divided into a great number of independent tribes, whose origin may be traced by similarity of language, habits, and manners. The parent stock is divided into several septs, which are again subdivided into a great many minor hordes. The principal divisions are these: Munday Wawkantons, Sussetons, Wakhpaytons, Wawkhpaykootays, Yanktows, and Tetons. These last live high up on the Missouri, and have little intercourse with the rest. The Assinneboins, a numerous and powerful tribe, who roam over the prairies between the Missouri and the Saskatchawayn, seceded from the Dahcotahs little more than a century ago, and a bloody war was long waged between them and the parent race. A woman was the canse of quarrel. The Winnebagoes and Otoes, renowned for desperate bravery, the Ioways, the Osages, the Omahaws, and many other western tribes, claim affinity with the Dahcotahs, and speak dialects of their tongue. The tradition concerning their origin, to which we give most credit, says, that they all came from Mexico at the time of the invasion of Cortez. The Winnebagoes hold the Spaniards in abhorrence to this day. Such of these tribes as inhabit the prairie region are vagrant, and live mainly by hunting the buffalo. A description of one will be a description of all of them. They are, generally, of the middle stature of mankind, and it is rare to see a Dahcotah who much exceeds or falls short of it, or who is in any wise deformed. They are beautifully formed; it is as rare to see an ill-made Dahcotah as a well-made white man. They are not muscular, nor are they

so agile as whites commonly are; but in recompense, their powers of endurance are very great. They seem utterly insensible of fatigue, and patient of hunger, pain, and all other hardships.

"Neither these, nor any other Indians with whom we are acquainted, are at all remarkable for gravity in their social intercourse. They are more taciturn, indeed, than the whites; but this is the result rather of circumstance than of education. Spending much time alone, they acquire a habit of silence; having fewer ideas than civilized men, they have fewer inducements to discourse. The conversation that does take place among them, however, is by no means characterized by reserve or by the absence of hilarity. In councils and on solemn occasions, it is judged decorous and proper to give no indication of feeling, and hence an apathetic gravity has long been thought a distinguishing attribute of the Indian character. Even were the assumption just, the aborigines would be no more remarkable in this respect than most modern Asiatic nations.

"The character of Indians in general seems to have been viewed by most writers through a false medium, and their qualities have been inferred from the nature of their intercourse with white men. This is a false standard; to know them, one should live long among them and watch their social relations. Thus seen, they appear to much greater advantage than when hanging upon the frontiers, doing or suffering wrong, and debasing themselves by theft, beggary, and intemperance.

"It will not be denied by any who know them, that those Indians who have not been corrupted by the whites are sincerely pious. They universally believe in one all-wise, benevolent, and powerful God, to whom, however, they never pray; for, they say, he knows better what is good for them than they do themselves. Nothing shocks them more than to hear his name mentioned with irreverence by the whites. They also believe in an evil principle, whom they pray to do

them no harm. them no harm. They people all animated nature with inferior spirits, and to these they offer prayers and sacrifices. Their supersti tions are numberless. They believe in a future state, and the world of spirits is, in their opinion, a fine hunting-ground, where the vexations and sufferings of this life will be unknown. Each man has what he calls his medicine; that is, he thinks fit to consider his fate and fortunes dependent on some animal, and that animal he will neither kill, eat, nor treat with disrespect. In short, they have an infinite variety of such observances, and there is little uniformity in the belief of individuals.

"Their priests are mere jugglers, who practise various mummeries, and are also, as is common among savages, physicians and surgeons, and, indeed, they mix medicine and religion together. A cure is effected by songs and superstitious rites as well as by the use of simples. The juggler's voice and rattle are seldom still near the couch of a

may

not

sick man. We are yet to learn that these quacks are much respected in their sacerdotal character, or that any great importance is attached to their ceremonies by the majority of the laity. One merit they have, and that is their skill in rough surgery. We have seen them effect astonishing cures. It be amiss to mention one, by way of example. A hunter was grappled by a bear that he had wounded, and dreadfully lacerated. His arin was broken in several places, and all who saw it thought he must die or submit to amputation. An Indian surgeon, however, undertook the cure and effected it. It is true that he was three years about it, and perhaps the abstemious habits of the patient were a main cause of his recovery.

"As to government, the Dahcotah race have no king, and every man does what seems right in his own eyes. They have chiefs, indeed, who have, by tacit consent, the power of making treaties, and of transacting the business of their followers. Sometimes they lead in war, but, save on such occasions, authority they have none. They may advise, but cannot command.