with deeper anguish, and far keener mortification, we deplore the unhappy lot of those who were doomed to drag out a miserable existence, amidst chains and wretchedness, surrounded by that moral darkness which broods over the enslaved portion of our fellow-beings in the Southern States. There are yet remaining in Florida a few descendants of the pioneer Exiles. They are intermarried with the bands of "Billy Bowlegs," and of "Sam Jones," sometimes called Aripeka; they are now mostly half-breeds, and are rapidly becoming amalgamated with the Indian race. Besides these, there are a number of Spanish Refugees, or colored people who fled from Spanish masters and took up their residence with those called "Spanish Indians." These did not engage in the war until 1840: nor did they then engage in any of the battles with our army; they contented themselves with plundering ships wrecked on their coast, and the foray upon Indian Key. They refused to send delegates to the council summoned by General Worth, to establish terms of pacification. They live independent of the white people, subsisting mostly on fish and the natural products of the soil, holding very little intercourse with either white men or other Indians. Descendants of Exile parents, they have the complexion and appearance of pure Spaniards; but they are rapidly blending with the Indians, and forming a mixed race. These different bands, remaining in Florida, and aggregating into a distinct people, have on several occasions since 1843, given evidence of implacable hostility to the whites. And at the time of writing this narrative, they are engaged in open war; while the Government of the United States is endeavoring to secure peace in the same manner and upon the same terms on which General Worth obtained it, in 1843. Their future history may, hereafter, occupy the pen of some other historian. CHAPTER XXII. HISTORY OF EXILES CONTINUED. Character of Abraham--His knowledge of the Treaty of Payne's Landing--Its stipulations--General Jessup's assurances--Confirmed by other Officers of Government--Disappointment of Exiles on reaching Western Country--They refuse to enter Creek jurisdiction--Creeks disappointed--General Cass's policy of reuniting Tribes--Agent attempts to pacify Exiles--Hospitality of Cherokees--Discontent of all the Tribes--Seminoles loud in their complaints--Hostilities apprehended--Conduct of Executive--Agents selected to negotiate another Treaty--Treaty stipulations--Attempts to falsify history--Executive action unknown to the people. [Sidenote: 1844.]