in all things theirs.

A LEGEND OF THE BOMELMEEKS.

Twenty-four men, and twenty-four women, from the twenty-four tribes of
the wilderness, were met upon the top of the hill Gerundewagh. There
were none upon the earth but those twenty-four tribes, and none upon
the hill but these twice twenty-four people. They were all friends,
and as brothers. There was no strife in the land; no blood deluged the
beautiful vales of the wilderness; no cry of war shook the hills. Bows
and arrows, and spears, were used for the destruction of bears, and
wolves, and panthers; and the ochre, which now stains the brow of the
Indian with the red hue of war, was used for the ornamenting of pipes.
There was but one language upon the earth--all the tribes understood
each other. If a Bomelmeek said to an Algonquin, "Give me meat or
drink," he brought him meat or drink--if he said, "Smoke in my pipe,"
he smoked in the proffered pledge of peace, or he refused. If an
Iroquois youth said to a girl of the Red Hurons, "Give me thy heart,
and become the star of my cabin," she gave him her heart, and became
the star of his cabin, or she bade him think of her no more. It was
not then as it is now, that men fell out, and came to blows, because
they mistook the words that were spoken. "Yes" was "yes," and "no" was
"no," with all the tribes of the land, and interpreters were a thing
unknown. So these twice twenty-four people from the twenty-four tribes
of the earth sat down upon the top of the hill Gerundewagh, and smoked
their pipes.

Whilst they were puffing out clouds of smoke, and enjoying greatly the
pleasure which an Indian so covets, one of them, whose sight was
keener than the rest, casting his eye far over the western wilderness,
cried out, that he saw two somethings whose heads peered far above
the woods. Very soon the rest of the people assembled at the hill
Gerundewagh were able to see the same somethings, which resembled much
the trunks of trees which have been divested of their branches, and
look out in the blush of the morning through the vapours of a damp
valley. What they were no human tongue could tell, but it was seen
that they were approaching the hill Gerundewagh. As the heads came
nearer, people were seen flying before them, and the heads following
in quick pursuit. At length the twice twenty-four on the hill were
able to see that the heads belonged to two enormous snakes, which were
moving in devious paths about the land, dev