Campobello: An Historical SketchWells, Kate Gannett
History
Campobello: An Historical Sketch
Wells, Kate Gannett
Campobello Island (N.B.)
"Once there was a young Indian who had married a wife of great beauty,
and they were attached to each other by a wonderful love. They lived
together on the headland which rises so boldly and beautifully above the
so-called Friar. Unfortunately her parents lived with the young married
couple, and acted as though they were still entitled to all control over
her. One summer the elder couple wished to go up the St. John River,
while the young man was determined to remain on Passamaquoddy Bay. Then
the parents bade the daughter to come with them, happen what might. She
wished to obey her husband, yet greatly feared her father, and was in
dire distress. Now the young man grew desperate. He foresaw that he must
either yield to the parents--which all his Indian stubbornness and sense
of dignity forbade--or else lose his wife. Now, he was _m'te[=u]lin_,
and, thinking that magic could aid him, did all he could to increase his
supernatural power. Then, feeling himself strong, he said to his wife
one morning, 'Sit here until I return.' She said, 'I will,' and obeyed.
But no sooner was she seated than the _m'te[=u]lin_ spell began to work,
and she, still as death, soon hardened into stone. Going to the point of
land directly opposite, over the bay, the husband called his friends,
with his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and told them that he was
determined never to part from his wife nor to lose sight of her for an
instant to the end of time, and yet withal they would never quit
Passamaquoddy. On being asked sneeringly by his wife's father how he
would effect this, he said: 'Look across the water. There sits your
daughter, and she will never move. Here am I gazing on her. Farewell!'
And as he spoke the hue of stone came over his face, and in a few
minutes he was a rock. And there they stood for ages, until, some years
ago, several fishermen, prompted by the spirit which moves the
Anglo-Saxon everywhere to wantonly destroy, rolled the husband with
great effort into the bay. As for the bride, she still exists as the
Friar; although she has long been a favorite object for artillery
practice by both English and American vandal captains, who have thus
far, however, only succeeded in knocking off her head."
=Tomar.= Many an Indian legend of doubtful authority still clings to
various points on the Island; yet only the Indians themselves are
persistent and real. Each summer day they bring their baskets for sale.
Tomar, at one time governor of his tribe, on a small salary with large
work to do, is one of the few thoroughbred Indians who still live in
this region. He is a man of integrity, skill, and gentleness. Each
visitor is eager to gain his companionship and guidance in his canoe, as
he paddles into nooks where one less experienced might hesitate to
penetrate. Greater than his skill in paddling is Tomar's ingenuity in
scraping pictures on birch bark symbolical of Indian life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account