ket, died
lately; he was a great warrior and still greater orator.

The most formidable opponents to the five nations were the Delawares, or
Lenni Lenape, who lived in Pennsylvania. The Delawares joined the
British in the war of Independence.

In the succeeding chapter, I shall give the reader a census of the
American Indian tribes which still remain. It will be perceived that
they are chiefly comprised of tribes which inhabited the Far-West, and
were until lately, almost unknown. Of the New England and Virginian
confederacies, once so powerful, not a vestige remains; of the
Delawares, 826 still exist west of the Mississippi; of the Shawanees, or
Shawnees, once so terrible on the banks of the Ohio, 1,272. In fact,
all those Indians whose territory bounded the coast first taken
possession of by the white men, have been annihilated. I have often
heard it argued, when I was in the United States, that the Indians could
not be considered as having any claim to the land, as they did not
settle or cultivate it, and it is a general opinion that they lived
almost entirely by the proceeds of the chase: but this is not a fact;
indeed it is disproved by the early settlers themselves, who acknowledge
that if they had not been supplied with corn by the Indians they must
have starved. That the Indians did not grow more than was sufficient
for their own consumption is very probable, but that they did cultivate
the land is most certain; indeed, when the country and soil were
favourable, they appear to have cultivated to a great extent. When
General Wayne destroyed the settlements of the Miamies and Wyandots, on
the Miami river, in 1794, he says in his despatch, "never have I beheld
such immense fields of corn in any part of America as possessed by these
Indians." The chase was considered by the Indians as a preparatory
school for warriors, and was followed accordingly; indeed, a hunting
party and a war party were often one and the same thing, as the hunting
grounds were common, and when tribes who were at variance fell in with
each other, a conflict invariably ensued. My limits will not permit me
to enter into the subject more fully; my object has been, in as few
pages as possible, to assist the map in giving the reader some idea of
the location of the Aborigines of America. If he would know more of
this interesting people, there are many very excellent works concerning
them written by Americans, which, were they collected to