INTRODUCTION.

"THE YEMASSEE" is a historical romance of South Carolina by a South Carolina man-William Gilmore Simms-and it is by far the best of the many literary works of that prolific writer. It illustrates one of the greatest of the conflicts of the early Carolina settlers with the native Indian tribes the Yemassee war of 1715. In that struggle the colony escaped total destruction only through the courage and energy of the governor, Charles Craven, whose character is well portrayed in the Gabriel Harrison of the story.

But the most striking and interesting personage introduced is Sanutee, the Yemassee chief. In him we have a fair type of the qualities of the patriotic Indian of the period-his love for his native forests and his jealousy of the encroachments of the whites, who were often both unjust and cruel in their treatment of the red man. Sanutee's son, the young chief Occonestoga, represents the Indian demoralized by contact with the bad side of European civilization. The picture of the brave youth ruined by strong drink, the frenzied love of his mother, and his terrible fate, form perhaps the most dramatic features of the book, which is all through replete with matter of thrilling interest.

William Gilmore Simms, the author of this most fascinating story, was a native of Charleston, where he was born in 1806. At eight years of age he began writing verses. When he was twenty-one, he published a volume of "Lyrical and Other Poems" and "Early Lays." In 1828 he became editor of the City Gazette, and in the following year appeared his first story, "Martin Faber." From that time onwards his writings were very numerous, including poems, plays, tales, romances, histories, and biographies. He died at Charleston in 1870.

THE INDIANS OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

No one knows where the Indians came from. It is generally believed that their ancestors crossed from Asia, by way of Bering Strait, a great many centuries ago, and, moving southward, gradually settled North and South America. They were divided into many tribes, each governed by a chief, usually elected by the warriors of his tribe. Gilmore Simms in