Western Sun & General Advertiser, Volume 18, Number 4, Vincennes, Knox County, 3 March 1827 — Page 4

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Poetical

NATURE'S UNIVERSAL THEME. Forget Me Xot." DY J. M. LACKT. Forget mc not !" what magic sounds ! Nature, throughout her mighty bounds, Disowns them not. Each vocal tenant of the grove, Seems warbling to a God of love, Forget mc not." The flowery gems that deck the plain, Or harvest-field of golden grain, In some loan spot, With piety seem bending there, And fancy well might deem the prayer Of each, " Forget mc not.' , When tempests roar 'midst winter's cold, Each trembling tenant of the fold, i By man forgot, Qouches and bleats in bitter tone, And seems to say in e cry moan, 4 Forget me not." And shall not man in whom we find God's image in the godlike mind In court or cot, Join Nature in her general cry, And let one chorus till the sky, While this shall be its minstrelsy, Forget mc not." i m : o : o 4 o : o : A Singular Adventure The following singular adventure of a man named John Colter is taken from Mr Bradbury's Travels in the Interior of N. America, a publication of grea' merit and in tercst. C'dter came to St. Louis in May. 1810 in a small canoe, fro i the head waters of the Mis scmri, a distance of three thousand mis, which he traversed in thirty days. I saw him on his arrival, c

received from him an account of

his adventures, after he had separated from Lewis &. Clark's party. I shall relate one anecdote for its singularity. On the ani val of the party at the head waters of the Missouri, Colter, ob serving an appearance of abundance of beaver being there, got

permission to remain and hunt for

sorne time which he did in com

pany with a man of the name of

Dixon, who had traversed the immense tract of country from St.

Louis to the head waters of the

Missouri ilone. Soon after he

scperated from Dixon, and traped in company with a hunter named

Potts: and a ware of the hostility

of the Blackfeet Indians, one of

t whom had been killed by Lewis,

they set their trapsat nirrht c took them np early in the morning, re maining concealed during theday They were examining their traps early one morning, in a creek

ah ut six miles from that branch of the Missouri called Jefferson's F 'i k, and were ascending in a canoe when. they suddenly heard A a great noise resembling the tramM phng of animals ; but they could not ascertain the fact, as the high perpendicular b inks of each side of the river impeded their view. Colter immediately pronounced it to be occasioned by Indians, & advised an instant reheat, hut was accused of cowardice by Potts who insisted that the noise-was caused by buffaloes, and proceded on In a few minutes afterwards their doubts were rcmov ed. by a party of Indians making their appearance on both sides of the creek, to the amount of live or six -hundred, who beckoned them to Come a shore As retieat was now impossible. Colter turned the head of the canoe ; ami at the moment of its touching, an Indian seized the rifle belonging to Potts : but Colter who is a remarkably strong man. immeditely retook it f and handed it to Potts, who re- ' mained in the cano-and on rerei- . ving it, pushed off-in the river. Ho had scarcely quited the shore, when an arrow was shot at him, and he cried out 4 Col

ter, I ani wounded!' Colter

remonstrated with him on the folly of attempting to escape, and urged hirh to come ashore. Instead of complying lie instantly leveled his rifle at the Indian, and shot him dead on the spot. This conduct, situated as he was may appear to have been an act of madness, but it was doubtless the effect of sudden but sound reasoning ; for if taken alive, he must have expected to be tortured to death, according to custom. He was instantly pierced with arrows so numerous, that, to use Colter's words. die was made a riddle of.' They now seized Colter, snipped him entirely naked, and began to consult on the manner in which he should be put to death. They were fnt inclined to set him up as a mark to shoot at, but the chief

interfered, and seizing him by the shoulder, asked him if he could run fast? Colter, woo had been some lime amongst the Kre. Kaisoor Crow Ii dians. had in a con siderable degree acquired the Blaekfoot language, and was also well acquainted with Indian customs ; he knew that lie had now to run for his life, with the dread ful odds of five or six hundred against him, and those armed Indians ; he therefore cunningly re plied, that he was a very bail runner, although he was considered by hunters as remarkable swift. The chief now commanded the party to remain stationai y,and led Colter out on the ptairia thiee or four hundred yards, and related him. bidding nun stive JiimstlJ' if lie could. At this instant lite nor rid war-whoop sounded in the ears of poor Collei, woo, urged with the hope of piesemng life ; ran with a speed at w 'nieh he turnSelf was sum; ined. lie proceeded towards the Jefferson Fork, having to traverse a plain miies in breadth. abounding with the prick ly pear on which lie was every instant treading, "ith his naked feet He ran nearly hail way across the plain beh.oe he ventured to look over his sholder, when he perceived that the Indians were very much scattered, and that he had gained ground to a considerable distance from the main bod ; but one Indian, who carried a spear, w as much before all the rest 6c not more than a hundred yards

from him. A faint gleam of , hope now cheered the heart of I Colter: he derived confidence fro in the belief that escape was within the bounds of possibility ; but that confidence was nearly fatal to him, for he exerted himself to such a degiee, that the blood gushed from his nos

trils, and soon almost covered the fore part of his body. He had now anived within a mile of the river, w hen he distinctly heard the appalling sound offootstepsbehind him, and every instant expected to feel the pear of his pursuer. A gain he turned his head, and saw the savage not twenty yards from

him. Determined, if possible, to avoid the expected blow, he suddenly stopped, turned round, and, spiead out his anus. The Indian surpi ued by the suddeness of ti e action, and perhaps by the bloody appearance ot Colhr alsoattemp j ted to stop. but exhausted w ith running, he fell whilst endeav ourI in to throw bin spear, which stuck : in the ground, and broke Colter instantly snatched up the pointed pait, w ith w hich he pinned him to j the earth, and ihen continued his

flight The foremost of the Indians, on arriving at the place, stopped till others came up to join them, when they set up a hideous yell. Every moment of this time was improved by Colter ; who although fainting and exhausted succeeded in gaining the skirting of the Cotton tree wood, on the borders of the Fork, through which he ran. 6c plunged into the river. Foi tuately for him a little below this place was an island, against the upper part of w Inch a raft of drift timber had lodged lie dived under the rait, and after several effoi tsgot his head above water amongst the trunks o tires, covered over with small wood. 6c held fast with his hands and feet Scarcely had he st cured himself

when the Indians ai rived on the river, screeching and yelling, as Colter expressed it, I'Ln so many devils.' They were tnqueutly on the raft during theday, and were seen through the chiuks by C I ter. who was congeal uiaiir.g him seif on his escape, until the ide.i arose that v mignt set the tab" on fire. In hoiriblc su -pence he lemained until night, when heat ing no moie of toe Indians, he dived under the raff, and swam silently down the rives to a con siderable di-tance. wneie lie Ian ded. and travelled all nignt Althougn happy in having eseaj ed from the Indians, his si -nation was s ill dreadlul ; he was completely naked, under a buromg sun the soles of his leer w ere emu ay tided with me moms ot the prieUy pear lie was hungry, and had no means lor kilim .;ame. ah?.oudi he saw abunitance a ound him and was ai lcus; seven days lourney trom Lisa- Fort on ti e norn branch ot the Roche Jamie river.. These wese the citcumftane.es under which almost any man but an American hunter would have despaired lie ani ved at the Fort in seven d lys. having subsisted on a root much esteemed by the Indians of the Missouri, now known by naturalists us psoralen tscleuta. Description oj'Siave Lake The situation of this la;e is between the blave river and iM Iveozie s m the interior of the North . West Territories, runs east and west, distant from Montreal, about 3000 miles, it) north lat. oU, and west Ion 110. Tue ex tent of this lake is (J00 miles io cir cumference. the breadth may be about 50. It takes its name as i represented by the natives them selves, from the ciiumstance ol a number of them being dnven up the river into this laue Winter continues here with such severity from December until May, that the Large rivets ae Irozen over until then The snow is commonly from five to six feet deep during the winter. The air is so serene and clear, and the natives and fur traders so well defended against the cold, that the season is not unhealthy, although it renders it very unpleasant The, ice in the lake is generally seven feet thick, and the purest spirit congeals

'I he trees split, & make as it weie the report of heavy artillery. The aurora borealis, is worthy ol iemark which is often seen and di -fuses a splended ai d Variegated light ; it equals that of the m on beams. In crossing and tra riling over this lake the tradets are of ten severely fioxui in the p;uts ot the body that are most expo-d A winter never passes without

some of the servants of the North West Company being frozen The spring opens suddenly ; inthc summer the inhabitants are annoyed by large swarms of mus quetoes. Which, in the evening and morning aie insupportable, and peopie are obli-ed almost to suffocate themselves The means of defence in travelling is a gauze well attached to the bat. and let fall over the face. The surrounding shores & the lands tor a short distance from the border of the lake, lorm but a dreary prospect. The foreMs produce m iny frees5, Mich as pine, white birch, poplar aspin,elm. and cedar w hieh hst is made gieat u-e . f in forming ean'cs The plains that aie ashort distance luck from the luke are large and extensive, and Heqnented by lar;;e herds of buffalo, while themiM.sc and reindeer keep to e woods.ihat border on the lake. The beavers wMch -1 re in great number, build their huts on the small nvers and lakes, of which there are a grcat number, falling into and hdiini; this bke. The a: ima s whose fur & skin constitute the staple commodities, are as follow s ;-beavers, foxes, otters, ma..n:s. muskiu's, minks fishes lynxwoh-es, ermines, deer and buffalo. The only animal any way dangerous, is thv bear, widen, w hen encounteredif the huiherinot certain of his aim, seizes and tears him to piece, and yours him. In this lake there aie several kinds of fish suckeis pe.ch, )ike, & white tili whi.-ti last are taken in nets; in toe fali ol the year they span n at the setting in ot the h ud fir ; t' e crowd into shoal water, where as many po-i deaie taken. in order that a por;ion of them may he preserved by it.e lost. s 0 pnu ; ie ujiatiit a scmei.y i r r the White wnicn som ifnes occurs. - During a short peri d of the spri--n, great numhe s of wild fow l firquent this place, sueli as sw ans geese, and ducks of all discretions; great numbers are killed, aod prove a gratifying food after the winter fare. "The slaves, or esclaves, as they are called, are of a moderate stature w ell made & propoitinned & of great activity and examples of deformity are scarcely ever known among them. Their eyes are black, keen, and penetrating ; their countenances are open and agreeable. The females are well propoitioned and their features regular. Their dresa is at once simple and commodious. The materials vary according to the season. Such is one tiibe of the American Israelites. Anecdote of Frederick Alexander. Tiie Russian & Piussian sovereigns had an interview in 1802, at Metnrl As they were one day walking on the quay of Memel. they got in conversation with an English captain of a ves-el then in ihe port; after the conversation had lasted some time, the Kn g told the Kngli-i captain that w as the Kmpei or of Russia the captain a good deal astonished, changed fiom the familiar tone into a ery respectful one. The emperor then told him. This is the king of Prussia. () ! otii servant gentlemen, said l! e Kng'i.di captain, don't think to play upon me, so good bye to v u Mv Emperor Mr. Kin! iyinii this, he turned on bi5 heel, a; d lett them in high dudgeon. IVulour leasts cxlii -'.ih kitchen tires.