here."

"Moves! I see nothing but land, water, and sky. What
moves?"

"The Swimming Seneca. For a thousand winters he is to
swim in the waters of this lake. Such is the tradition of my
people. Five hundred winters are gone by since he was
thrown into the lake; five hundred more must come before
he will sink. The curse of the Manitou is on him. Fire will
not burn him; water will not swallow him up; the fish will
not go near him; even the accursed axe of the settler can
not cut him into chips! There he floats, and must float,
until his time is finished!"

{Swimming Seneca = though I have been unable to
discover any genuine Native American origin for this
legend, a detailed variation of it can be found in a poem,
"Outalissa", by Rev. Ralph Hoyt, published in "Sketches by
Rev. Hoyt, Vol. VIII" (New York. C. Shepard, n.d. [ca.
1848] (the Geneva College library copy of which is
inscribed "DeLancey" and may have belonged to the family
of Cooper's brother-in-law, Episcopal Bishop of Western
New York William Heathcote De Lancey (1797-1865), who
lived in Geneva)--a somewhat different version forms the
Geneva (Hobart) College student legend of Chief
Agayentha or "The Floating Chief."}

"You must mean the 'Wandering. Jew?' "