Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

"untutored mind" sees no remedy but striking back, and he accordingly utters that most unmelodious cry called the "war-whoop," unsheaths his knife and sails in, ripping up any number of serviceable bowels, and depriving the head of his "white brother" of its superfluous hair; for this "red brother" is very sanguinary, and has not cultivated the sweet courtesies and gentle amenities of life enough to render him insensible to so trifling a wrong. When he has burnt and murdered and scalped enough, then he is ready for a treaty or any other arrangement, and he meets his "Great Fathers" in council.

Then

a whitewashing ensues, the "white brother is rebuked, the gentle savage receives his annuity of blankets and rum, and things are settled till another decade. At this time, fraudulent commissioners and treacherous agents worry the Indians into new violence, the war-whoop is again sounded, and again happen the burnings, and rippings, and scalpings, ending the same as before. The last has just concluded, the whitewashing has been performed, and our “red brother"- the grimy, dirty, disgusting, bloody-minded "Spotted Tail" of the Cheyennes, as represented in our engraving, whose knife is darkened with the blood of the white man, whose whoop has been heard above the crackle of midnight flames, whose eye has blazed malignantly to see the sufferings of his tortured victims-is

sent home loaded with presents, to resume the knife on the first occasion. Our red brother is not wholesome-looking, his costume is not attractive, and his general make-up is inferior to that of Mr. Forrest, as Metamora, who is "not a real Ingine," as the boy of the Bowery said, "but only a member of an Ingine company." Had Hiawatha assumed his look, when he went to woo the gentle Minnehaha"Loveliest of all the women

In the land of the Dacotah".

she would have bid him go to the "Gitchee Gaumee" and bathe himself, before he could come into the old arrow-maker's wigwam. We have a sort of pity for our "red brother," though we shudder at his reckless use of cold iron. He is the victim of unfortunate circumstances the principal one of which is, being. What business has he to be? "Westward the star of empire takes its way," and his "white brother" of course cannot follow that star without trenching upon him. The Pacific Railroad cuts through his huntingground, and he rebels against his destiny, finding himself at last, as he surely will, a victim of fate, to become, we don't know when, like the Penobscots, or the Gay Heads, or the Marshpees, reduced to a nominal existence as tribes, and doomed to end a glorious but bloody career, in the peaceful pursuit of basket-making.

A NORWEGIAN CHURCH.

Taste seems to have run mad in planning the little village church depicted on page 319. It is as strange a pile as ever was presented to a civilized eye, and in view of its many ins and outs one would think that devotion might get lost in the intricacies of the place. It has more gables we believe than Mr. Hawthorne's "House of the Seven Gables," and it is possible that that famed structure was built by some early migratory Norwegian who settled at Naumkeag. Yet there is a certain degree of smartness about it. The fantastic ornaments, though meaningless, are nevertheless effective, and the quaint tiled roof, if the reader will fancy them such, and as they doubtless are, glowing in the sun, is decidedly picturesque. The Norwegian origin is involved in fable, but is supposed to have been Asiatic, and therefore this strange architecture may be a hereditary result of Orientalism,

breaking out in the remote generations, as the gout, or red hair, or a family mark, will reappear in distant descendants of those with whom they originated. The Norwegians are a very excellent people. They are too poor, and have to work too hard, to be addicted to the vices of more "favored" countries, so called; but the question may well be asked which country may be called the most favored

those with their higher prosperity, and consequent corruption, or those with their simple living and manly integrity? The church and the school are institutions in Norway. The Lutheran is the prevailing religion of the state, and is professed by the great body of the people, though religion of all kinds is tolerated. Care is had, however, that the government offices are only filled by members of the established church. The country is divided into five dioceses, corresponding in name

SPOTTED TAIL.

An Indian Brave.

[graphic]

and extent with the administrative provinces, and into some eight hundred parishes. Education is very generally diffused, and gratuitous elementary instruction is placed within the reach of all; and all children of seven years, in towns, and of.eight years, in the country, are required to be in attendance at school till confirmation, usually between the ages of fourteen and seventeen. The elementary schools are stationed in all towns and parishes. There are also middle schools, middle and royal schools, burgher schools, Latin or learned schools, Cathedral schools in several places, and at the head, over all, the University of Christiana. This school system, which

is supported by government, is attended by the happiest results. We are called to witness the benefit of these schools, which is manifested in the conduct of Norwegian emigrants who seek our shores, who bring with them an intelligence that immediately fits them to comprehend our institutions, and, by their well-directed industry and tact, become speedily the best settlers of the West. There are many townships in that Great Beyond composed entirely of Norwegians, who bring with them the virtues of the Fatherland to graft upon our own, not forgetting, here, the church and the school that gave the basis of their character there.

[blocks in formation]

Our picture on page 320 gives simply the form of the beautiful grotto of Capri which has so long delighted visitors. It is situated about twenty-five miles from Naples, from which steamboats take the visitor to the spot. Traditionally this is one of the haunts of the Emperor Tiberius, in which he held some of his orgies, but it is not authentic. It bears the title of the "Grotto of Nymphs," which is a very poetical and pretty designation for one of the most beautiful places in the world. We wish it were in our power to depict the vivid colors of the stalactites which hang from its fretted roof, the sand which glows in the beams of the azure light, or the crystal-tinted water that flashes like gems on every hand. The remarkable transparency of the sea, and the azure brilliance of the reflected light in the grotto constitute its unique charms. The deep water, flowing into the cave through the narrow entrance, seen in the picture, is of the hue and transparency of the lightest and brightest sapphire. A traveller remarks that he never saw such translucence as the sea possesses round the rocks of Capri, nor such beautiful specimens of iris-hued sands lying beneath, greener than emeralds. Another tells us that when he had entered into the low-arching vault, and looked back to where the light streamed through the aperture, it appeared of a cerulean hue, so fine and ethereal that it resembled undulating flames. "I should say," he continues, "that the very Spirit of Light had descended here and held her throne upon these waters, veiling her radiancy with its robes of azure." A distinguished country woman of ours visited the

cave, and her description surpasses that of all the rest, which we copy:

"Just where the waves broke against the rocks, we saw a small opening in them, and soon after entering a little boat, we rowed towards it. As we approached it, our boatman called out, 'Lie down in the boat.' Obeying his command, we soon felt ourselves carried quickly onward upon the crest of a great wave. For an instant the darkness was intense, and a sharp pang of fear assailed me; but in another we seemed to have entersd a fairy land of mystery and dazzling light. We seemed floating in the air. The water was deeply blue, and the atmosphere of the same color. A vast arched roof rose above us; beneath it, stretched far away long corridors and aisles, whose pavement was of a rich turquoise blue, as smooth and calm as though it were stone and not living water. From the roof hung multitudes of stalactites, around which was playing a clear blue flame, like burning spirits of wine. The fish swimming below us were as blue as the jaybirds of our forests, and the walls and broken rocks seemed carved from a quarry of lapis-lazuli. It was wonderful, unique, and the fit abode of seanymphs, which the people of Capri say still inhabit it; while the Neapolitans call it the 'Witches' Cave.' The depth of the water is about eight fathoms. Near the centre of the grotto is a landing-place, leading to a corridor, which, after a few feet, is found closed up by a great stone. In the time of Tiberius, it no doubt served as a bath for the luxurious monarch; and the subterranean passage led from his palace on the cliff far, far above it."

[merged small][graphic][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][subsumed]
« AnteriorContinua »