ion between the
years 1790 and 1799; which privilege as a part of their nation they
now enjoy.

The Cherokees now own in Haywood county, a tract of seventy-two
thousand acres of land, well adapted in the vallies for farming, and
on the mountains for wild game and sports of the chase. _Qualla Town_,
their metropolis, is chiefly inhabited by the former sovereigns of the
country, among whom are a few Catawbas. The Qualla Town people are
divided into seven clans or divisions, over each of which a chief
presides.

About the year 1830 the principal chief of this settlement, by the
name of "Drowning Bear" (or You-na-guskee) becoming convinced that
_intemperance_ would destroy himself and his people, determined, if
possible, to bring about a work of reform. He accordingly directed his
clerk to write in the Indian language an agreement which translated
reads as follows: "The undersigned Cherokees, belonging to the town of
Qualla, agree to abandon the use of spirituous liquors." This
instrument of writing was immediately signed by the old and venerable
chief, and the whole town. This wise proceeding has worked a wonderful
change for the better in their condition. They are now a temperate,
orderly, industrious and peaceable people.

One of the most wonderful achievements of our age is the invention of
the Cherokee alphabet. The invention was made in 1821 by _Guess_,
(Se-qua-yah) _a half breed_ Indian, his father being a white man and
his mother a Cherokee. He was at the time not only perfectly
unacquainted with letters but entirely so with every other language
except his own. The first idea of the practicability of such a project
was received by looking at an old piece of printed paper and
reflecting upon the very singular manner (to him) by which the white
people could place their thoughts on paper and communicate them to
others at a distance. A thought struck him that there surely must be
some mode by which the Indians could do the same. He first invented a
distinct character for each word, but soon found the number so great
that it was impossible to retain them in the memory. After several
months' labor he reduced his original plan so as to give to each
character a _syllabic sound_, and ascertained there were but
eighty-six variations of sounds in the whole language; and when each
of these was represented by some particular character or letter, the
language was at once reduced to a system, and the extraordinary mode
of now