and weakness, the terror and sin-stricken
Onondagas.

At length he rose to speak, and every sound was hushed, not only in
the Indian camp, but in surrounding nature. Not a bird chirped; not a
leaf was heard to rustle among the trees of the plain; the beasts of
the forests were still; the busy bee desisted from its hum; even the
winds were hushed and silent while the stranger delivered his solemn
warning.

"I am," said he, "Tekarrah, the messenger of the Great Spirit.
Onondagas, listen to my words! I am come from your father, that same
Spirit, to speak the words of truth in your ears, and to tell you that
he is exceedingly angry with you. You have exchanged your broad and
rich lands for useless toys; you have taken the maize and the meat
from the mouths of your starving children, to purchase from the
strangers the strong waters which have made your warriors as timid as
the deer you once hunted through the forests. You have thrown away
the tongue which was given you by your Great Father, and have taken
that of your destroyers. You have forgotten the deeds of your fathers,
which made them feared and honoured from the Falls of the Mohawk to
Lake Huron. The Great Spirit has spoken to you in his thunders, and by
the mouth of his priests, but you have heard neither; and, though his
blessings were showered thick upon you, you have been like adders, and
stung the hand which dispensed them.

"Onondagas! hear the warning words of the Great Spirit. If you will
return to your cabins, and forget the things that were taught you, and
unlearn the tongue of the white man, to use again the language of your
fathers--if, instead of the rifle, you will shoot with the bow, and
cause the arrow to whistle instead of the bullet--if you will cease to
give the spoils of the chace and the produce of your fields for beads
and strong waters--if you will chase the Oneidas from your
hunting-grounds, and again occupy them yourselves--then will the Great
Spirit forgive you, and once more take you to his bosom. But, if you
will not hearken to his voice, nor to the voice of his prophets,
listen to the words of vengeance.

"Before twelve moons shall have faded from the skies, your tribe shall
have passed away. Not an Onondaga shall be left to tell the proud
story of the glory of his nation. The cabin of the pale-face shall be
built on the burial spot of your fathers, and his herds and flocks
shall feed on the consecrated ground of the priests. The whi