The creeping ground-pine turn'd about

Each shrunk and fleshless limb,

And the white wind-flower looked from out The sockets black and grim;

Half hidden in the foliage round,

With which Spring clothes the forest ground
In blossom, leaf, and stalk,
Redden'd with rust, there lay upon

The moss, the fragment of a gun,

And broken tomahawk.

One with white hair and furrow'd brow

Had swept that hatchet bare, And read the name of "Onneko" In faint mark'd traces there; The memory of a forest King

Was brought on Thought's recurring wing
From twilight of the past,

Who, 'mid his tribe's stern warriors, stood
Freedom's wild bulwark, till in blood
He conquer'd died, at last.

The old man told his story then
To sorrowing ears, though rude,
How once, within a forest glen
An Indian village stood;
The lake, which pictur'd in its glance
The council fire-the battle dance-
The pirogue's simple sail-
The war-post, where for Onneko

Each whooping warrior struck his blow,

And rush'd upon the trail.

Then, how the white men sought the lake,
Like vultures for their prey,

With craft and worthless toys to take
Those hunting grounds away;
How baffled-one wild night of dread,
The black sky gleam'd with lurid red
From burning roofs, and loud
The Sachem heard the musket crash,
And saw the blood-stain'd bayonet flash,
From out the sulphurous shroud.

Then how those smouldering heaps among

That prophesied his fate,

The madden'd chief his death-song sung,

And swore eternal hate;

In wolf-trod swamps and mountains, where

The lurking panther made his lair,

The noble savage fought;

There oft his war-whoop startled Fear,
Till on his last dead warrior's spear

He died the death he sought.

Then through that listening group, a grief
Weighty and sad was spread,

They with one impulse rais'd the chief
From that damp thicket's bed.
They delv'd a grave within the sod,
While to the Indian's, Christian's God,
The old man pour'd his prayer,
Beneath a birch tree's tassell'd shade,
The relics of the Sachem laid,
And left him resting there.

Monticello, Sullivan Co., N. Y.

A. B. S.

LEAVES FROM A LADY'S JOURNAL.

No. I.

Introduction to the Mexican coast-Encampment amongst the sand-hills-Natives—A funeral-A ride-Tampico-Packages ransacked-Travelling.

My account of our wanderings in a strange land must commence with a description of our rude introduction to its inhospitable coast. Not quite so bad was it as the landing made by the gentleman who swam to shore from his stranded bark with a large shark at his heels, into whose voracious jaws he flung his travelling cap, imploring the monster to content himself with that at present; whilst he was buffeting with the cruel sea, which "sucked him back to its insatiate grave," he the while sucking in a fair proportion of sand and salt water. Not quite so terrific as this was our landing; for though our poor little schooner suffered shipwreck, our landing was effected without swallowing any salt water, and without more of a ducking than would have been agreeable to me under different circumstances.

Shipwreck! What a host of horrid images does that word conjure up to the imagination of broken spars, and tattered sails, and gushing waters, and all the fear and anguish of a violent death. But on those sandy shores vessels are frequently cast away without much risk of life or property, except to the ship-owners, whose vessels are abandoned to the gradual destruction of the unsparing elements. Such was the case in the present instance.

We anchored about three leagues above Tampico bar, off a lee

shore, in a heavy swell, on a still, cloudy, sultry evening; one of those evenings which "e'en in their silence seem to brood" something portentous of approaching storms. The clouds hung heavily along the horizon, and seemed to mingle their huge masses with the heaving ocean. On one side stretched the Mexican coast, a bold mountain dimly visible in the distance. We had passed the mouth of the river; through a glass had been discerned the shipping that lies there; but the breeze came not which might have wafted us safely into harbour. So we came to anchor, as I said before, after uneasy consultations; and many an anxious gaze, weatherward, proving the dubious seamanship of the measure that was adopted at last. This idea, however, did not trouble me; for placing implicit confidence in the skill and experience of those in command, we retired to rest with our usual tranquillity; a calm as deceitful as that of the weather, which was rather disturbed about midnight by the hollow roaring sound of the approaching gale, like the low growl of a beast of prey ready to take its spring, and by the real spring of the Captain from his hammock on to the deck, with the hoarse ominous cry of "All hands on deck!" But "all hands" were fast asleep, and there was not a light on board, of which I was not at first aware, but discovered it by the reiterated shouts and curses of the Captain; upon which I felt for my magic matches, and raising the hatchway, called out at the top of my voice that I had a light for them. This effort relieved me from the terrible feelings that took possession of me during the first frightful minutes of darkness and confusion; confusion that was above me, and round about me, and busy at my heart; and yet in which I could take no share, nor lift a finger fo avert the impending danger. In the meantime the howling of the gale increased every instant, and with it the uproar on deck; and, above all, we heard the Captain vociferate repeatedly "Does she drag?" At length the mate answered him that she had parted her cable, and then we said, "Now surely it is time to awaken the children and prepare for the worst, for, alas! it is all over with us." So I reluctantly raised them from their happy slumber, and at the moment I was lifting one of them from the berth, the vessel struck amid the breakers, and shipped a sea, which rushing down the companionway drenched us completely. For an instant it appeared that we were all afloat. The vessel turned on her side, and every moveable article flew forward as it were with a sudden impulse to obey the immutable laws of attraction; which we with some difficulty resisted. Soon after this the mate came down into the cabin, and by his assurances that we were in no danger dispelled our fears. He declared that every stroke of the vessel heaved her higher up on the beach, and

promised to have us safely carried ashore at day-break.

Thus re-assured, we waited in a most drenched and comfortless condition till daylight should enable us to land in safety.

At early dawn we were summoned on deck, when the danger being over, we could contemplate without dismay the wild scene before us. The unfortunate little schooner, lying half on her side, was heaving heavily to every stroke of the sea which partially broke over her. The struggle was over. She had fought her way through those frightful breakers, which were roaring fiercely behind, as though still eager to pursue their prey; and now beyond their reach, lay sullenly resigned to her fate, like some luckless youth wrecked amid the breakers of disordered passions. He lives, it is true; but can float no more on the buoyant waves of a sunny existence. Stranded, listless, hopeless, he wears away the sad remainder of his life. Now we, though stranded, were neither listless, nor hopeless; but very much on the alert.

The sailors, who were bouncing about in the surf like great water dogs, carried us safely to shore; and there among the desolate sand-hills they had pitched for us a rude tent, with some loose spars and a huge sail they had contrived to drag through the waves. I felt grateful to the Captain and his mate for this ready provision for our comfort. They certainly spared no exertion nor contrivance by which they could in any way alleviate our melan. choly condition during the two days we remained encamped on that dismal scorching coast.

On landing, some of the party expressed a fear that the natives might take advantage of our helpless situation; and I, ignorant of the peaceable character of the Mexicans in that quarter of the country, felt quite alarmed when I perceived some people approaching at a brisk pace along the shore. I urged the gentlemen to arm themselves, and retreated precipitately into the tent, dragging with me the poor half-dressed, dripping children. But the Captain laughed at my fears, and soon convinced me that the people at hand were only poor fellows who had been gathering oysters for the Tampico market, to which place they were carrying them on the backs of donkeys. These were the first Mexicans we had seen, and we eyed them with no small degree of curiosity. They were small in stature and nearly as dark as Indians, but otherwise not much resembling that race. They were not overburthened with clothing; a shirt, and loose cotton drawers reaching a little below the knee, being their only apparel. They carried short leather whips, or rather thongs, and ran barefoot after their donkeys.

In the course of the day my alarm was slightly renewed by the appearance of two strange, swarthy looking beings at the door of

the tent. They were dressed like the oystermen, with the addition of a kind of leather breastplates strapped over their shoulders, and tied round the middle with leather girdles, to which were attached great knives a foot and a half long. "Gracious Heaven!" thought I," are they going to butcher us with those frightful knives!" But again my fears were without foundation. They were only poor wood-cutters, carrying those formidable looking weapons in the way of their business, and with no hostile intent. They came to beg a dram and a bit of sea biscuit, which was handed to them, and we were glad to see them move off. We amused ourselves through the day by gathering shells on the beach and bathing in the surf. We also made a short exploring expedition, and roaming over the sand-hills, discovered a small la goon, near which some deer were feeding, and great sea birds were winging their lazy flight. The excessive heat, however, made exercise unpleasant; it would have been intolerable but for a strong breeze off the sea. If we took shelter under the tent, the oppressive closeness of the air was more distressing than the scorching heat of the sun. Besides which, the wet sand that had clung to the sail of which the tent was formed, fell as it dried, and covered every thing, powdered our hair and mingled with our provisions. We felt no partiality for that sandy abode, but preferred a seat in the open air under shelter of an umbrella. But when night came there was no choice left us; so into the tent we went, and resigned ourselves to the heat and the sand, the sand flies and land crabs, which peered up their little glassy eyes at us out of holes in the ground, quite amazed at the sight of such intruders. Some customhouse officers too had found us out, and eyed us with equal curi. osity. We returned them the compliment; but I could discover nothing in their appearance worthy of a second glance, except the peculiar manner in which their hair was dressed. It was shaved quite close at the back of the head, while the front locks were left long and frizzed fiercely round the face. This I find is a prevailing Mexican mode of hair dressing. One of these gentlemen had gathered a quantity of turtles' eggs on the beach, which formed an excellent addition to our supper.

The next morning, as the news of our disaster had reached Tampico, a party of gentlemen rode down to the wreck, from va rious motives of duty, interest, and curiosity. They were of various nations; Americans, English, Germans, Mexicans. They were all well mounted, with each a servant also on horseback, and formed quite a cavalcade as they came ambling along the beach. The costume of these gentlemen struck me as well suited to the climate. Large Panama hats, snow-white jacket and trowsers,