the necklace of wampum from Radisson's neck, threw it at the feet of
the oldest sachem, cut the captive's bonds, and, amid shouts of
applause, set the white youth free.


One of the incomprehensible things to civilization is how a white man
_can_ degenerate to savagery. Young Radisson's life is an
illustration. In the first transports of his freedom, with the Mohawk
women dancing and singing around him, the men shouting, he leaped up,
oblivious of pain; but when the flush of ecstasy had passed, he sank to
the mat of the Iroquois lodge, and he was unable to use his burned feet
for more than a month. During this time the Iroquois dressed his
wounds, brought him the choice portions of the hunt, gave him clean
clothing purchased at Orange (Albany), and attended to his wants as if
he had been a prince. No doubt the bright eyes of the swarthy young
French boy moved to pity the hearts of the Mohawk mothers, and his
courage had won him favor among the warriors. He was treated like a
king. The women waited upon him like slaves, and the men gave him
presents of firearms and ammunition--the Indian's most precious
possessions. Between flattered vanity and indolence, other white men,
similarly treated, have lost their self-respect. Beckworth, of the
Missouri, became to all intents and purposes a savage; and Bird, of the
Blackfeet, degenerated lower than the Indians. Other Frenchmen
captured from the St. Lawrence, and white women taken from the New
England colonies, became so enamored of savage life that they refused
to leave the Indian lodges when peace had liberated them. Not so
Radisson. Though only seventeen, flattered vanity never caused him to
forget the gratitude he owed the Mohawk family. Though he relates his
life with a frankness that leaves nothing untold, he never at any time
returned treachery for kindness. The very chivalry of the French