Matilda Montgomerie; Or, The Prophecy FulfilledRichardson, Major (John)
History
Matilda Montgomerie; Or, The Prophecy Fulfilled
Richardson, Major (John)
United States -- History -- War of 1812 -- Fiction
The second Chief, Round-head, who, by the way, was the principal in
reputation after Tecumseh, we find the more difficulty in describing
from the fact of his having had few or none of those peculiarities which
we have, happily for our powers of description, been enabled to seize
hold of in Split-log. His name we believe to have been derived from that
indispensable portion of his frame. His eye was quick, even penetrating,
and his stern brow denoted intelligence and decision of character. His
straight, coal-black hair, cut square over the forehead, fell long and
thickly over his face and shoulders. This, surmounted by a round
slouched hat, ornamented with an eagle's feather, which he ordinarily
wore and had not even now dispensed with, added to a blue capote or
hunting frock, produced a _tout ensemble_, which cannot be more happily
rendered than by a comparison with one of his puritanical sly-eyed
namesakes of the English Revolution.
Whether our third hero, Walk-in-the-water, derived his name from any
aquatic achievement which could possibly give a claim for its adoption,
we have no means of ascertaining; but certain it is, that in his
features he bore a striking resemblance to the portraits of Oliver
Cromwell. The same small, keen, searching eye, the same iron
inflexibility of feature, together with the long black hair escaping
from beneath the slouched hat, (for Walk-in-the-water, as well as
Round-head, was characterised by an unconscious imitation of the
Rounheads of the Revolution)--all contributed to render the resemblance
as perfect as perfection of resemblance can be obtained, where the
physical, and not the moral, man, forms the ground of contrast.
Far above these in nobleness of person, as well as in brilliancy of
intellect, was the graceful Tecumseh. Unlike his companions, whose dress
was exceedingly plain, he wore his jerkin or hunting coat of the most
beautifully soft and pliant deer-skin, on which were visible a variety
of tasteful devices, exquisitely embroidered with the stained quills of
the porcupine. A shirt of dazzling whiteness was carefully drawn over
his expansive chest, and in his equally white shawl-turban was placed an
ostrich feather, the prized gift of the lady of the mansion. On all
occasions of festivity, and latterly in the field, he was wont thus to
decorate himself; and never did the noble warrior appear to greater
advantage than when habited in this costume. The contrast it offered to
his swarthy cheek and mobile features, animated as they were by the
frequent flashing of his eagle eye, seldom failed to excite admiration
in the bosoms of all who saw him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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