The Land of Bondage: A RomanceBloundelle-Burton, John
History
The Land of Bondage: A Romance
Bloundelle-Burton, John
Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction
"I, too, speak as the mouth of my tribe, almost all of whom can
understand my words; nay, some there are whose fathers and fathers'
fathers were of your blood. Even so," he said, hearing our murmurs of
astonishment and, in the case of some, their murmurs of disgust. "Even
so. But for all of my tribe, whether of the noble Shawnee and Doeg
races which hath spread here from the great river to the north, or the
Manahoacs, or Monacans, or Tucaroras, Catawbas, or Cherokees, of all
of which races we are composed, and also for those of white blood who
have become of us, I speak, since he who now lies there is dead. All
are free to go, nay, shall be escorted back in safety to their homes.
For the war which we have made on you has been a sinful one, ordered
by the lying false medicine man whom we believed in. And, or
atonement, this I offer, being, though I knew it not then, myself the
worst of all my tribe. For the injuries I have done to the white woman
whose people were good to my father I offer my life, having naught
else to give. Here on this spot I offer it, now and at once."
And to my amazement, as well, indeed, as that of all around, Anuza
came forward to where Joice and I stood, and, kneeling down before
her, stretched out his arms and went on: "Take it now, either with
your own hands or by the hands of this your beloved, or the hands of
these your slaves and servants. What more can I offer than this,
unless also you desire that I shall die a death of torture? And, if
that be so, then that will I also endure."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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