inted of various colours, and crowded with human beings.
They thought it certain that it was the Great Spirit, bringing them
some gift which they did not possess before. Other messengers soon
arrived, who had seen the inhabitants of the house, and made a report
which did not lessen their wonder, fear, or curiosity. They told
their friends that they were men of a different colour from the
Indians, and differently dressed; they were white as the flesh of a
plucked bird, and wore no skins; and one of them, who must be the
Great Spirit himself, was dressed entirely in red. The great house, or
whatever it was, continued to approach. While approaching, some one in
it cried to them in a loud voice, and in a language which they could
not understand, yet they shouted in reply, according to the custom of
the Mohegans. Much frightened at the strange voices, and at the still
stranger creature which floated towards them, many proposed to retreat
to the hills for security; others opposed this, lest offence should be
given to their visiter, who would find them out and destroy them. At
last, the strange creature, which they now found to be a great canoe,
stopped, and, at once, the robes white as snow, which were spread over
its numerous arms, and covered its three heads, fluttered in the winds
like clouds in the season of ripe corn. Soon were many of the strange
men employed in gathering these robes into folds, as Indians pack
skins. Presently a canoe of smaller size approached the shore where
the Indians sat, having in it the man who was dressed in red and many
others. When he had landed, leaving his canoe with some of his men to
guard it, he approached the Mohegan chiefs and warriors who were
assembled in council, and had seated themselves in a circle, as is
their custom when about to receive ambassadors and messengers of
peace. The man in red walked fearlessly into the midst of them, and
saluted them all with great kindness, taking a hand of each, which he
shook very hard. The Indians, on their part, testified their gladness,
and their friendship, and their emotions of joy and satisfaction at
their arrival, by loud shouts, and by rubbing their cheeks against
those of their new acquaintance, and by patting them on the back. Lost
in admiration of the strangers, of their dress, so gay and so
dissimilar to that of the Indians, their manners so unlike, their
features so different, and their language so utterly unknown, the
Mohegans could