or seated upon some pleasant spot on its summit, and basking in the sunshine, with that air of lazy enjoyment which characterizes the race.

Hour after hour passed on; the prospect was still the same. At last a loud cry from our guide announced that we had come in sight of the cantonment.

There was a snowy speck resting upon the distant green; behind it rose a forest of lofty timber which shadowed the Missouri. This was Leavenworth. But still, many miles intervened; for the prairie is like the ocean-the view is wide and boundless; and it requires an eye trained by many months' residence in these regions, to measure accurately the distance of objects.

It was mid day when we first caught sight of Leavenworth, but it was near sunset before we arrived there. About a dozen white-washed cottage-looking houses, compose the barracks and the abodes of the officers. They are so arranged as to form the three sides of a hollow square; the fourth is open, and looks out into a wide but broken prairie. It is a rural looking spot-a speck of civilization dropped in the heart of a wilderness. There was nothing here to tell a tale of war; and but for the solitary sentinels upon their posts; the lounging forms of the soldiers, who were nearly worn out with their labours to kill time; or the occasional roll of the drum, as the signal for the performance of some military duty, we would not have known that we were in the heart of a military station.

J. T. IRVING.

THE SAC INDIAN.

ON the following day we strolled through the forest which skirted the garrison and overhung the 'Missouri. At one moment our eyes would be caught by the dazzling plumage of the little parroquets, as they whirled through the branches of the trees; at another we amused ourselves by listening to the shrill screams of a woodpecker, as he saluted some crony mounted on a neighbouring limb.

Our attention at other times would be attracted by the movements of some old antiquated bird of the same species, who was busy peeping into the holes and crannies of some ruined trunk-to ascertain, if possible, the cause of its decay.

In another direction might be seen a solitary raven, sitting in silence upon the naked limb of some mouldering tree, and apparently brooding over the ruin that reigned around him.

As we passed an opening between the houses, which gave us a view of the green in front, we caught sight of a single Indian, standing beneath the shade of a tall old oak.

Whilst we were regarding him, a little red-nosed soldier came up. He informed us that the Indian was a Sac, one of those who had fought against the whites under Black Hawk. As he mentioned this, he took the opportunity of uncorking his indignation, and letting off the superfluous foam, in a volley of oaths and anathemas against the whole race in general, and against this individual in particular. He threw out dark hints of what he had himself done in the war, and what he would now do, if the major would only permit it. At the time we looked upon him with considerable awe; but we afterwards learned that there was little to be

apprehended from him. He was a character notorious for boiling over in the excess of his wrath, especially in time of peace; but beyond this was distinguished for nothing, except a strong attachment to liquors of all descriptions.

We soon left him, and crossed over the green, to the spot where the Indian was standing.

I had formed but a poor opinion of the race from those whom I had already seen, but never was I more agreeably disappointed-never had I beheld such a princely fellow. He stood unmoved as we came up, viewing us with a calm, cold, but unwavering gaze. His eyelid never drooped; nor was 1 the eye averted for an instant as it met our look. A large blanket, here and there streaked with vermilion, and ornamented with hawks' bells, was so disposed around his folded arms, that it left bare his finely formed shoulder and half of his high and sinewy chest. A bright, steel-headed tomahawk peeped from beneath its folds, and a quiver of arrows hung at his back. His legs were cased in leggings of dressed deer skin, with the edges cut into a rough fringe. He wore a pair of mocassins of dressed buffalo hide. The top of his head was closely shaven, and covered with vermilion; but his face was free from any colouring whatever, with the exception of a ring of black paint, which was carefully drawn around each eye.

As we approached he drew himself up, and threw his head slightly backward with an air of haughtiness which well became his high stern features. He seemed to feel like a proud but desolate being. Upon his head was bound an eagle's plume, but it was crushed and broken. Could it be emblematic of the broken spirit of his own tribe? Their power was gone; their strength was with

ered; they were scattered to the four winds of heaven; the bones of their bravest warriors were whitening the prairies, and their chief was in bondage in an unknown land.*

And this savage-he seemed to feel that he was alone; but his stern features told that he asked no pity, and would brook no insult.

For some time he stood in front of us, returning gaze for gaze, and for a moment a smile played over his features; then drawing up his tinkling blanket, he wrapped it closely around him, and walked off. We lost sight of him behind one of the buildings, as he directed his course towards the forest.

We turned away towards our quarters, but the roll of the dinner drum sounded across the green, and changing our course, we obeyed its summons, J. T. IRVING.

ASSASSINATION.

As this is the second instance of deliberate assassination which has occurred, and as we shall hereafter meet with many other instances of the same crime, the causes which gave rise to a practice so shocking to humanity deserve our particular attention. Resentment is, for obvious and wise reasons, one of the strongest passions in the human mind. The natural demand of this passion is, that the person who feels the injury should himself inflict the vengeance due on that account. The permitting this, however, would have been destructive

*At this time, Black Hawk was in the Eastern States.

to society; and punishment would have known no bounds, either in severity or in duration. For this reason, in the very infaney of the social state, the sword was taken out of private hands, and committed to the magistrate. But at first, while laws aimed at restraining, they really strengthened the principle of revenge. The earliest and most simple punishment for crimes, was retaliation; the offender forfeited limb for limb, and life for life. The payment of a compensation to the person injured succeeded to the rigour of the former institution. In both these, the gratification of private revenge was the object of law; and he who suf fered the wrong was the only person who had a right to pursue, to exact, or to remit the punishment. While laws allowed such full scope to the revenge of one party, the interests of the other were not neglected. If the evidence of his guilt did not amount to a full proof, or if he reckoned himself to be unjustly accused, the person to whom a crime was imputed had a right to challenge his adversary to single combat, and, on obtaining the victory, vindicated his own honour. In almost every considerable cause, whether civil or criminal, arms were appealed to, in defence, either of the innocence, or the property, of the parties. Justice had seldom occasion to use her balance; the sword alone decided every contest. The passion of revenge was nourished by all these means, and grew, by daily indulgence, to be incredibly strong. Mankind became habituated to blood, not only in times of war, but of peace; and from this, as well as other causes, contracted an amazing ferocity of temper and of manners. This ferocity, however, made it necessary to discourage the trial by combat; to abolish the payment of compensations in