CHAPTER 33

"They fought, like brave men, long and well, They piled that

ground with Moslem slain, They conquered--but Bozzaris

fell, Bleeding at every vein. His few surviving comrades

saw His smile when rang their loud hurrah, And the red field

was won; Then saw in death his eyelids close Calmly, as to a

night's repose, Like flowers at set of sun."--Halleck

The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, a nation of

mourners. The sounds of the battle were over, and they had

fed fat their ancient grudge, and had avenged their recent

quarrel with the Mengwe, by the destruction of a whole

community. The black and murky atmosphere that floated

around the spot where the Hurons had encamped, sufficiently

announced of itself, the fate of that wandering tribe; while

hundreds of ravens, that struggled above the summits of the

mountains, or swept, in noisy flocks, across the wide ranges

of the woods, furnished a frightful direction to the scene

of the combat. In short, any eye at all practised in the

signs of a frontier warfare might easily have traced all

those unerring evidences of the ruthless results which

attend an Indian vengeance.

Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners. No

shouts of success, no songs of triumph, were heard, in

rejoicings for their victory. The latest straggler had

returned from his fell employment, only to strip himself of

the terrific emblems of his bloody calling, and to join in

the lamentations of his countrymen, as a stricken people.

Pride and exultation were supplanted by humility, and the

fiercest of human passions was already succeeded by the most

profound and unequivocal demonstrations of grief.

The lodges were deserted; but a broad belt of earnest faces

encircled a spot in their vicinity, whither everything

possessing life had repaired, and where all were now

collected, in deep and awful silence. Though beings of

every rank and age, of both sexes, and of all pursuits, had

united to form this breathing wall of bodies, they were

influenced by a single emotion. Each eye was riveted on the

center of that ring, which contained the objects of so much

and of so common an interest.

Six Delaware girls, with their long, dark, flowing tresses

falling loosely across their bosoms, stood apart, and only

gave proof of their existence as they occasionally strewed

sweet-scented herbs and forest flowers on a litter of

fragrant plants that, under a pall of Indian robes,

supported all that now remained of the ardent, high-souled,

and generous Cora. Her form was concealed in many wrappers

of the same simple manufacture, and her face was shut

forever from the gaze of men. At her feet was seated the

desolate Munro. His aged head was bowed nearly to the

earth, in compelled submission to the stroke of Providence;

but a hidden anguish struggled about his furrowed brow, that

was only partially concealed by the careless locks of gray

that had fallen, neglected, on his temples. Gamut stood at

his side, his meek head bared to the rays of the sun, while

his eyes, wandering and concerned, seemed to be equally

divided between that little volume, which contained so many

quaint but holy maxims, and the being in whose behalf his

soul yearned to administer consolation. Heyward was also

nigh, supporting himself against a tree, and endeavoring to

keep down those sudden risings of sorrow that it required

his utmost manhood to subdue.

But sad and melancholy as this group may easily be imagined,

it was far less touching than another, that occupied the

opposite space of the same area. Seated, as in life, with

his form and limbs arranged in grave and decent composure,

Uncas appeared, arrayed in the most gorgeous ornaments that

the wealth of the tribe could furnish. Rich plumes nodded

above his head; wampum, gorgets, bracelets, and medals,

adorned his person in profusion; though his dull eye and

vacant lineaments too strongly contradicted the idle tale of

pride they would convey.

Directly in front of the corpse Chingachgook was placed,

without arms, paint or adornment of any sort, except the

bright blue blazonry of his race, that was indelibly

impressed on his naked bosom. During the long period that

the tribe had thus been collected, the Mohican warrior had

kept a steady, anxious look on the cold and senseless

countenance of his son. So riveted and intense had been

that gaze, and so changeless his attitude, that a stranger

might not have told the living from the dead, but for the

occasional gleamings of a troubled spirit, that shot athwart

the dark visage of one, and the deathlike calm that had

forever settled on the lineaments of the other. The scout

was hard by, leaning in a pensive posture on his own fatal

and avenging weapon; while Tamenund, supported by the elders

of his nation, occupied a high place at hand, whence he

might look down on the mute and sorrowful assemblage of his

people.

Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in

the military attire of a strange nation; and without it was

his warhorse, in the center of a collection of mounted

domestics, seemingly in readiness to undertake some distant

journey. The vestments of the stranger announced him to be

one who held a responsible situation near the person of the

captain of the Canadas; and who, as it would now seem,

finding his errand of peace frustrated by the fierce

impetuosity of his allies, was content to become a silent

and sad spectator of the fruits of a contest that he had

arrived too late to anticipate.

The day was drawing to the close of its first quarter, and

yet had the multitude maintained its breathing stillness

since its dawn.

No sound louder than a stifled sob had been heard among

them, nor had even a limb been moved throughout that long

and painful period, except to perform the simple and

touching offerings that were made, from time to time, in

commemoration of the dead. The patience and forbearance of

Indian fortitude could alone support such an appearance of

abstraction, as seemed now to have turned each dark and

motionless figure into stone.

At length, the sage of the Delawares stretched forth an arm,

and leaning on the shoulders of his attendants, he arose

with an air as feeble as if another age had already

intervened between the man who had met his nation the

preceding day, and him who now tottered on his elevated

stand.

"Men of the Lenape!" he said, in low, hollow tones, that

sounded like a voice charged with some prophetic mission:

"the face of the Manitou is behind a cloud! His eye is

turned from you; His ears are shut; His tongue gives no

answer. You see him not; yet His judgments are before you.

Let your hearts be open and your spirits tell no lie. Men

of the Lenape! the face of the Manitou is behind a cloud."

As this simple and yet terrible annunciation stole on the

ears of the multitude, a stillness as deep and awful

succeeded as if the venerated spirit they worshiped had

uttered the words without the aid of human organs; and even

the inanimate Uncas appeared a being of life, compared with

the humbled and submissive throng by whom he was surrounded.

As the immediate effect, however, gradually passed away, a

low murmur of voices commenced a sort of chant in honor of

the dead. The sounds were those of females, and were

thrillingly soft and wailing. The words were connected by

no regular continuation, but as one ceased another took up

the eulogy, or lamentation, whichever it might be called,

and gave vent to her emotions in such language as was

suggested by her feelings and the occasion. At intervals

the speaker was interrupted by general and loud bursts of

sorrow, during which the girls around the bier of Cora

plucked the plants and flowers blindly from her body, as if

bewildered with grief. But, in the milder moments of their

plaint, these emblems of purity and sweetness were cast back

to their places, with every sign of tenderness and regret.

Though rendered less connected by many and general

interruptions and outbreakings, a translation of their

language would have contained a regular descant, which, in

substance, might have proved to possess a train of

consecutive ideas.

A girl, selected for the task by her rank and

qualifications, commenced by modest allusions to the

qualities of the deceased warrior, embellishing her

expressions with those oriental images that the Indians have

probably brought with them from the extremes of the other

continent, and which form of themselves a link to connect

the ancient histories of the two worlds. She called him the

"panther of his tribe"; and described him as one whose

moccasin left no trail on the dews; whose bound was like the

leap of a young fawn; whose eye was brighter than a star in

the dark night; and whose voice, in battle, was loud as the

thunder of the Manitou. She reminded him of the mother who

bore him, and dwelt forcibly on the happiness she must feel

in possessing such a son. She bade him tell her, when they

met in the world of spirits, that the Delaware girls had

shed tears above the grave of her child, and had called her

blessed.

Then, they who succeeded, changing their tones to a milder

and still more tender strain, alluded, with the delicacy and

sensitiveness of women, to the stranger maiden, who had left

the upper earth at a time so near his own departure, as to

render the will of the Great Spirit too manifest to be

disregarded. They admonished him to be kind to her, and to

have consideration for her ignorance of those arts which

were so necessary to the comfort of a warrior like himself.

They dwelled upon her matchless beauty, and on her noble

resolution, without the taint of envy, and as angels may be

thought to delight in a superior excellence; adding, that

these endowments should prove more than equivalent for any

little imperfection in her education.

After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the

maiden herself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and

love. They exhorted her to be of cheerful mind, and to fear

nothing for her future welfare. A hunter would be her

companion, who knew how to provide for her smallest wants;

and a warrior was at her side who was able to protect he

against every danger. They promised that her path should be

pleasant, and her burden light. They cautioned her against

unavailing regrets for the friends of her youth, and the

scenes where her father had dwelt; assuring her that the

"blessed hunting grounds of the Lenape," contained vales as

pleasant, streams as pure; and flowers as sweet, as the

"heaven of the pale faces." They advised her to be

attentive to the wants of her companion, and never to forget

the distinction which the Manitou had so wisely established

between them. Then, in a wild burst of their chant they

sang with united voices the temper of the Mohican's mind.

They pronounced him noble, manly and generous; all that

became a warrior, and all that a maid might love. Clothing

their ideas in the most remote and subtle images, they

betrayed, that, in the short period of their intercourse,

they had discovered, with the intuitive perception of their

sex, the truant disposition of his inclinations. The

Delaware girls had found no favor in his eyes! He was of a

race that had once been lords on the shores of the salt

lake, and his wishes had led him back to a people who dwelt

about the graves of his fathers. Why should not such a

predilection be encouraged! That she was of a blood purer

and richer than the rest of her nation, any eye might have

seen; that she was equal to the dangers and daring of a life

in the woods, her conduct had proved; and now, they added,

the "wise one of the earth" had transplanted her to a place

where she would find congenial spirits, and might be forever

happy.

Then, with another transition in voice and subject,

allusions were made to the virgin who wept in the adjacent

lodge. They compared her to flakes of snow; as pure, as

white, as brilliant, and as liable to melt in the fierce

heats of summer, or congeal in the frosts of winter. They

doubted not that she was lovely in the eyes of the young

chief, whose skin and whose sorrow seemed so like her own;

but though far from expressing such a preference, it was

evident they deemed her less excellent than the maid they

mourned. Still they denied her no need her rare charms

might properly claim. Her ringlets were compared to the

exuberant tendrils of the vine, her eye to the blue vault of

heavens, and the most spotless cloud, with its glowing flush

of the sun, was admitted to be less attractive than her

bloom.

During these and similar songs nothing was audible but the

murmurs of the music; relieved, as it was, or rather

rendered terrible, by those occasional bursts of grief which

might be called its choruses. The Delawares themselves

listened like charmed men; and it was very apparent, by the

variations of their speaking countenances, how deep and true

was their sympathy. Even David was not reluctant to lend

his ears to the tones of voices so sweet; and long ere the

chant was ended, his gaze announced that his soul was

enthralled.

The scout, to whom alone, of all the white men, the words

were intelligible, suffered himself to be a little aroused

from his meditative posture, and bent his face aside, to

catch their meaning, as the girls proceeded. But when they

spoke of the future prospects of Cora and Uncas, he shook

his head, like one who knew the error of their simple creed,

and resuming his reclining attitude, he maintained it until

the ceremony, if that might be called a ceremony, in which

feeling was so deeply imbued, was finished. Happily for the

self-command of both Heyward and Munro, they knew not the

meaning of the wild sounds they heard.

Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest

manifested by the native part of the audience. His look

never changed throughout the whole of the scene, nor did a

muscle move in his rigid countenance, even at the wildest or

the most pathetic parts of the lamentation. The cold and

senseless remains of his son was all to him, and every other

sense but that of sight seemed frozen, in order that his

eyes might take their final gaze at those lineaments he had

so long loved, and which were now about to be closed forever

from his view.

In this stage of the obsequies, a warrior much renowned for

deed in arms, and more especially for services in the recent

combat, a man of stern and grave demeanor, advanced slowly

from the crowd, and placed himself nigh the person of the

dead.

"Why hast thou left us, pride of the Wapanachki?" he said,

addressing himself to the dull ears of Uncas, as if the

empty clay retained the faculties of the animated man; "thy

time has been like that of the sun when in the trees; they

glory brighter than his light at noonday. Thou art gone,

youthful warrior, but a hundred Wyandots are clearing the

briers from thy path to the world of the spirits. Who that

saw thee in battle would believe that thou couldst die? Who

before thee has ever shown Uttawa the way into the fight?

Thy feet were like the wings of eagles; thine arm heavier

than falling branches from the pine; and thy voice like the

Manitou when He speaks in the clouds. The tongue of Uttawa

is weak," he added, looking about him with a melancholy

gaze, "and his heart exceeding heavy. Pride of the

Wapanachki, why hast thou left us?"

He was succeeded by others, in due order, until most of the

high and gifted men of the nation had sung or spoken their

tribute of praise over the manes of the deceased chief.

When each had ended, another deep and breathing silence

reigned in all the place.

Then a low, deep sound was heard, like the suppressed

accompaniment of distant music, rising just high enough on

the air to be audible, and yet so indistinctly, as to leave

its character, and the place whence it proceeded, alike

matters of conjecture. It was, however, succeeded by

another and another strain, each in a higher key, until they

grew on the ear, first in long drawn and often repeated

interjections, and finally in words. The lips of

Chingachgook had so far parted, as to announce that it was

the monody of the father. Though not an eye was turned

toward him nor the smallest sign of impatience exhibited, it

was apparent, by the manner in which the multitude elevated

their heads to listen, that they drank in the sounds with an

intenseness of attention, that none but Tamenund himself had

ever before commanded. But they listened in vain. The

strains rose just so loud as to become intelligible, and

then grew fainter and more trembling, until they finally

sank on the ear, as if borne away by a passing breath of

wind. The lips of the Sagamore closed, and he remained

silent in his seat, looking with his riveted eye and

motionless form, like some creature that had been turned

from the Almighty hand with the form but without the spirit

of a man. The Delawares who knew by these symptoms that the

mind of their friend was not prepared for so mighty an

effort of fortitude, relaxed in their attention; and, with

an innate delicacy, seemed to bestow all their thoughts on

the obsequies of the stranger maiden.

A signal was given, by one of the elder chiefs, to the women

who crowded that part of the circle near which the body of

Cora lay. Obedient to the sign, the girls raised the bier

to the elevation of their heads, and advanced with slow and

regulated steps, chanting, as they proceeded, another

wailing song in praise of the deceased. Gamut, who had been

a close observer of rites he deemed so heathenish, now bent

his head over the shoulder of the unconscious father,

whispering:

"They move with the remains of thy child; shall we not

follow, and see them interred with Christian burial?"

Munro started, as if the last trumpet had sounded in his

ear, and bestowing one anxious and hurried glance around

him, he arose and followed in the simple train, with the

mien of a soldier, but bearing the full burden of a parent's

suffering. His friends pressed around him with a sorrow

that was too strong to be termed sympathy--even the young

Frenchman joining in the procession, with the air of a man

who was sensibly touched at the early and melancholy fate of

one so lovely. But when the last and humblest female of the

tribe had joined in the wild and yet ordered array, the men

of the Lenape contracted their circle, and formed again

around the person of Uncas, as silent, as grave, and as

motionless as before.

The place which had been chosen for the grave of Cora was a

little knoll, where a cluster of young and healthful pines

had taken root, forming of themselves a melancholy and

appropriate shade over the spot. On reaching it the girls

deposited their burden, and continued for many minutes

waiting, with characteristic patience, and native timidity,

for some evidence that they whose feelings were most

concerned were content with the arrangement. At length the

scout, who alone understood their habits, said, in their own

language:

"My daughters have done well; the white men thank them."

Satisfied with this testimony in their favor, the girls

proceeded to deposit the body in a shell, ingeniously, and

not inelegantly, fabricated of the bark of the birch; after

which they lowered it into its dark and final abode. The

ceremony of covering the remains, and concealing the marks

of the fresh earth, by leaves and other natural and

customary objects, was conducted with the same simple and

silent forms. But when the labors of the kind beings who

had performed these sad and friendly offices were so far

completed, they hesitated, in a way to show that they knew

not how much further they might proceed. It was in this

stage of the rites that the scout again addressed them:

"My young women have done enough," he said: "the spirit of

the pale face has no need of food or raiment, their gifts

being according to the heaven of their color. I see," he

added, glancing an eye at David, who was preparing his book

in a manner that indicated an intention to lead the way in

sacred song, "that one who better knows the Christian

fashions is about to speak."

The females stood modestly aside, and, from having been the

principal actors in the scene, they now became the meek and

attentive observers of that which followed. During the time

David occupied in pouring out the pious feelings of his

spirit in this manner, not a sign of surprise, nor a look of

impatience, escaped them. They listened like those who knew

the meaning of the strange words, and appeared as if they

felt the mingled emotions of sorrow, hope, and resignation,

they were intended to convey.

Excited by the scene he had just witnessed, and perhaps

influenced by his own secret emotions, the master of song

exceeded his usual efforts. His full rich voice was not

found to suffer by a comparison with the soft tones of the

girls; and his more modulated strains possessed, at least

for the ears of those to whom they were peculiarly

addressed, the additional power of intelligence. He ended

the anthem, as he had commenced it, in the midst of a grave

and solemn stillness.

When, however, the closing cadence had fallen on the ears of

his auditors, the secret, timorous glances of the eyes, and

the general and yet subdued movement of the assemblage,

betrayed that something was expected from the father of the

deceased. Munro seemed sensible that the time was come for

him to exert what is, perhaps, the greatest effort of which

human nature is capable. He bared his gray locks, and

looked around the timid and quiet throng by which he was

encircled, with a firm and collected countenance. Then,

motioning with his hand for the scout to listen, he said:

"Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heart-broken

and failing man returns them his thanks. Tell them, that

the Being we all worship, under different names, will be

mindful of their charity; and that the time shall not be

distant when we may assemble around His throne without

distinction of sex, or rank, or color."

The scout listened to the tremulous voice in which the

veteran delivered these words, and shook his head slowly

when they were ended, as one who doubted their efficacy.

"To tell them this," he said, "would be to tell them that

the snows come not in the winter, or that the sun shines

fiercest when the trees are stripped of their leaves."

Then turning to the women, he made such a communication of

the other's gratitude as he deemed most suited to the

capacities of his listeners. The head of Munro had already

sunk upon his chest, and he was again fast relapsing into

melancholy, when the young Frenchman before named ventured

to touch him lightly on the elbow. As soon as he had gained

the attention of the mourning old man, he pointed toward a

group of young Indians, who approached with a light but

closely covered litter, and then pointed upward toward the

sun.

"I understand you, sir," returned Munro, with a voice of

forced firmness; "I understand you. It is the will of

Heaven, and I submit. Cora, my child! if the prayers of a

heart-broken father could avail thee now, how blessed

shouldst thou be! Come, gentlemen," he added, looking about

him with an air of lofty composure, though the anguish that

quivered in his faded countenance was far too powerful to be

concealed, "our duty here is ended; let us depart."

Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from a spot

where, each instant, he felt his self-control was about to

desert him. While his companions were mounting, however, he

found time to press the hand of the scout, and to repeat the

terms of an engagement they had made to meet again within

the posts of the British army. Then, gladly throwing

himself into the saddle, he spurred his charger to the side

of the litter, whence law and stifled sobs alone announced

the presence of Alice. In this manner, the head of Munro

again drooping on his bosom, with Heyward and David

following in sorrowing silence, and attended by the aid of

Montcalm with his guard, all the white men, with the

exception of Hawkeye, passed from before the eyes of the

Delawares, and were buried in the vast forests of that

region.

But the tie which, through their common calamity, had united

the feelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with the

strangers who had thus transiently visited them, was not so

easily broken. Years passed away before the traditionary

tale of the white maiden, and of the young warrior of the

Mohicans ceased to beguile the long nights and tedious

marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with a

desire for vengeance. Neither were the secondary actors in

these momentous incidents forgotten. Through the medium of

the scout, who served for years afterward as a link between

them and civilized life, they learned, in answer to their

inquiries, that the "Gray Head" was speedily gathered to his

fathers--borne down, as was erroneously believed, by his

military misfortunes; and that the "Open Hand" had conveyed

his surviving daughter far into the settlements of the pale

faces, where her tears had at last ceased to flow, and had

been succeeded by the bright smiles which were better suited

to her joyous nature.

But these were events of a time later than that which

concerns our tale. Deserted by all of his color, Hawkeye

returned to the spot where his sympathies led him, with a

force that no ideal bond of union could destroy. He was

just in time to catch a parting look of the features of

Uncas, whom the Delawares were already inclosing in his last

vestment of skins. They paused to permit the longing and

lingering gaze of the sturdy woodsman, and when it was

ended, the body was enveloped, never to be unclosed again.

Then came a procession like the other, and the whole nation

was collected about the temporary grave of the chief--

temporary, because it was proper that, at some future day,

his bones should rest among those of this own people.

The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous and

general. The same grave expression of grief, the same rigid

silence, and the same deference to the principal mourner,

were observed around the place of interment as have been

already described. The body was deposited in an attitude of

repose, facing the rising sun, with the implements of war

and of the chase at hand, in readiness for the final

journey. An opening was left in the shell, by which it was

protected from the soil, for the spirit to communicate with

its earthly tenement, when necessary; and the whole was

concealed from the instinct, and protected from the ravages

of the beasts of prey, with an ingenuity peculiar to the

natives. The manual rites then ceased and all present

reverted to the more spiritual part of the ceremonies.

Chingachgook became once more the object of the common

attention. He had not yet spoken, and something consolatory

and instructive was expected from so renowned a chief on an

occasion of such interest. Conscious of the wishes of the

people, the stern and self-restrained warrior raised his

face, which had latterly been buried in his robe, and looked

about him with a steady eye. His firmly compressed and

expressive lips then severed, and for the first time during

the long ceremonies his voice was distinctly audible. "Why

do my brothers mourn?" he said, regarding the dark race of

dejected warriors by whom he was environed; "why do my

daughters weep? that a young man has gone to the happy

hunting-grounds; that a chief has filled his time with

honor? He was good; he was dutiful; he was brave. Who can

deny it? The Manitou had need of such a warrior, and He has

called him away. As for me, the son and the father of

Uncas, I am a blazed pine, in a clearing of the pale faces.

My race has gone from the shores of the salt lake and the

hills of the Delawares. But who can say that the serpent of

his tribe has forgotten his wisdom? I am alone--"

"No, no," cried Hawkeye, who had been gazing with a yearning

look at the rigid features of his friend, with something

like his own self-command, but whose philosophy could endure

no longer; "no, Sagamore, not alone. The gifts of our

colors may be different, but God has so placed us as to

journey in the same path. I have no kin, and I may also

say, like you, no people. He was your son, and a red-skin

by nature; and it may be that your blood was nearer--but,

if ever I forget the lad who has so often fou't at my side

in war, and slept at my side in peace, may He who made us

all, whatever may be our color or our gifts, forget me! The

boy has left us for a time; but, Sagamore, you are not

alone."

Chingachgook grasped the hand that, in the warmth of

feeling, the scout had stretched across the fresh earth, and

in an attitude of friendship these two sturdy and intrepid

woodsmen bowed their heads together, while scalding tears

fell to their feet, watering the grave of Uncas like drops

of falling rain.

In the midst of the awful stillness with which such a burst

of feeling, coming as it did, from the two most renowned

warriors of that region, was received, Tamenund lifted his

voice to disperse the multitude.

"It is enough," he said. "Go, children of the Lenape, the

anger of the Manitou is not done. Why should Tamenund stay?

The pale faces are masters of the earth, and the time of the

red men has not yet come again. My day has been too long.

In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happy and strong;

and yet, before the night has come, have I lived to see the

last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans."