difficulty in going from one spot to another, being governed by the moss on the trees, which always remains on the north side, but on the south it wastes and decays: they remark also, that the branches are larger, and the leaves more luxuriant on the south than on the north side of the tree. The most enlightened part of mankind, I am persuaded, cannot be more exact in their mode of judging, nor more attentive to the works of nature.
To prove further, if there are any who doubt it, that the Indians possess strong natural abilities, and are even capable of receiving improvement from the pursuits of learning, I shall relate a story from Kalm's Travels.[1]
"An old American Savage being at an inn at New York, met with a gentleman who gave him some liquor, and being rather lively, boasted he could read and write English. The gentleman, willing to indulge him in displaying his knowledge, begged leave to propose a question, to which the old man consented. He was then asked, who was the first circumcised? the Indian immediately replied, father Abraham:—and directly asked the gentleman, who was the first quaker? He said it was very uncertain, that people differed in their sentiments exceedingly. The Indian perceiving the gentleman unable to resolve the question, put his fingers into his mouth, to express his surprize, and looking [29] stedfastly, told him, that Mordecai was the first quaker, for he would not pull off his hat to Haman."
Mr. Adair[2] says, the Cherokees are very apt at giving
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- ↑ Peter Kalm, Swedish naturalist and botanist, was sent to America to study its flora, and travelled extensively between 1748 and 1751. The English edition of his travels was published in London in 1772.―Ed.
- ↑ James Adair, a trader among the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians, 1735-75. He published a History of the American Indians (London, 1775), which attempts to prove their relationship to the Jews. It contains, notwithstanding, much valuable information, particularly in regard to the Southern. tribes.―Ed.
