se flesh they had found very good and juicy, and
which animals were killed with arrows and sharp spears. The eyes of the
boys glistened like coals of fire, and became of double size, while they
described the beauties and wonders of the upper earth.

The Indians were very much delighted with the boys' story. They tasted
of the meat, and the grapes, and liked them so well, that they resolved
to leave their dull residence under ground, for the charms of the upper
air. All the inhabitants of the cavern agreed to leave it for the
newly-discovered hunting-grounds, except the ground-hog, the badger, and
the mole, who said as their maker had placed them there, there they
would live, and there they would die. The rabbit said he would live
sometimes below and sometimes above, and the rattlesnake, and the
tortoise, promised to spend the winter in the caverns, which they always
do.

When the Indians had determined to leave their habitations under ground,
they agreed to do it at different points, that they might sooner be on
the surface. The Minnatarees began, men, women, and children, to clamber
up the vine. One half of them had already reached the surface of the
earth, when a dire mishap involved the remainder in a still more
desolate captivity within its bowels. There was among the Minnatarees a
very big and fat old woman, who was heavier than any six of her nation.
Nothing would do but she must go up before certain of her neighbours.
Away she clambered, but her weight was so great, that the vine broke
with it; and the opening, to which it afforded the sole means of
ascending, closed upon her and the rest of the nation. Other tribes
fared better: in particular the beasts. The tortoise, who always took
the lead, because he was descended from the Great Tortoise who bears the
world on his back, and can live both on the land and in the water, very
easily crept out, but the Monseys or Wolves, who dwelt under Lake
Onondaga, did not emerge so easily. After trying to reach the upper air
for a long time in vain, one of their number, a cunning old wolf,
discovered a hole through which he crept out. He soon caught a deer,
which he carried down to his tribe, who found it so sweet that they
redoubled their exertions to reach a spot where such good things were to
be had, and fortunately soon reached it in company with the Turkeys,
whom they overtook on the way. The Mengwe crept out of the same hole,
but it was a long while afterwards. The Tor