The orphan Indian girl generally kept aloof from the rest, and seemed so
lonely and companionless, that she soon attracted my attention and
sympathy, and a hearty feeling of good-will sprang up between us. Her
features were small and regular, her face oval, and her large, dark,
loving eyes were full of tenderness and sensibility, but as bright and shy
as those of the deer. A rich vermilion glow burnt upon her olive cheek and
lips, and set off the dazzling whiteness of her even and pearly teeth. She
was small of stature, with delicate little hands and feet, and her figure
was elastic and graceful. She was a beautiful child of nature, and her
Indian name signified "the voice of angry waters." Poor girl, she had been
a child of grief and tears from her birth! Her mother was a Mohawk, from
whom she, in all probability, derived her superior personal attractions;
for they are very far before the Missasaguas in this respect.

My friend and neighbour, Emilia S____, the wife of a naval officer, who
lived about a mile distant from me, through the bush, had come to spend
the day with me; and hearing that the Indians were in the swamp, and the
men away, we determined to take a, few trifles to the camp, in the way of
presents, and spend an hour in chatting with the squaws.

What a beautiful moonlight night it was, as light as day!--the great
forest sleeping tranquilly beneath the cloudless heavens--not a sound to
disturb the deep repose of nature but the whispering of the breeze, which,
during the most profound calm, creeps through the lofty pine tops. We
bounded down the steep bank to the lake shore. Life is a blessing, a
precious boon indeed, in such an hour, and we felt happy in the mere
consciousness of existence--the glorious privilege of pouring out the
silent adoration of the heart to the Great Father in his universal temple.

On entering the wigwam, which stood within a few yards of the clearing, in