lude, the Indian's conversion. Even a bird which has never
known the forest, will eventually escape to the wilds which God has made
its home; and the young Indian, who has been reared in the city, will
fly to the woods and prairies, and return to the faith of his fathers,
because these, and only these, will satisfy his nature.[34]

A theme of praise, in itself more just, has been the Indian's courage;
but the same circumstances of poetical interest, which have magnified
men's views of his other qualities, have contributed to exaggerate this
also. If calm steadiness of nerve, in the moment of action, be an
element in true courage, that of the primitive savage was scarcely
genuine. In all his battles, there were but two possible aspects--the
furious onset, and the panic retreat: the firmness which plants itself
in line or square, and stubbornly contends for victory, was no part of
his character. A check, to him, always resulted in a defeat; and, though
this might, in some measure, be the consequence of that want of
discipline, which is incident to the savage state, the remark applies
with equal justice, whether he fought singly or in a body. He was easily
panic-struck, because the impulse of the forward movement was necessary
to keep him strung to effort; and the retrograde immediately became a
rout, because daring, without constancy, collapses with the first
reaction.

Notwithstanding the enervating influences attributed to refinement and
luxury, genuine, steady courage is one of the fruits borne by a high
civilization. It is the result of combination, thought, and the divinity
which attaches to the cultivated man. And, though it may seem rather
unfair to judge a savage by the rules of civilization, it has long been
received as a canon, that true valor bears an inverse ratio to
ferocious cruelty. Of all people yet discovered upon earth, the Indian
is the most ferocious. We must, therefore, either vary the meaning of
the word, when applied to different people, or deny the savage the
possession of any higher bravery, than that which lives only through the
onset.

Cunning supplied the place of the nobler quality; the object of his
warfare was to overcome by wily stratagem, rather than by open combat.
"Skill consisted in surprising the enemy. They followed his trail, to
kill him when he slept; or they lay in ambush near a village, and
watched for an opportunity of suddenly surprising an individual, or, it
might be, a wo