KAH-GE-GA-GAH-BOWH. 17

My father still lives; he is from sixty-five to seventy years old, and is one of the chiefs of Rice Lake Indian Village. He used to love fire-water before he was con- verted to God, but now lives in the enjoyment of reli- gion, and he is happy without the devil’s spittal—whz's- key. If Christianity had not come, and the grace of God had not taken possession of his heart, his head would soon have been laid low beneath the fallen leaves of the forest, and I, left, in my youthful days, an orphan. But to God be all the praise for his timely deliverance.

The reader will see that Icannot boast of an exalted parentage, nor trace the past. history to some renowned warrior in days of yore; but let the above suffice. My fathers were those who endured much; who first took possession of the conquered lands of the Hurons.

I was born in nature’s wide domain .' The trees were all that sheltered my infant limbs——the blue heavens all that covered me. I am one of Nature’s children; 1 have always admired her; she shall be my glory; her features-—her robes, and the wreath about her brow-- the seasons—her stately oaks, and the evergreen—her hair——ringlets over the earth, all contribute to my endur- ing love of her; and wherever I see her, emotions of pleasure roll in my breast, and swell and burst like waves on the shores of the ocean, in prayer and praise to Him who has placed me in her hand. It is thought great to be born in palaces, surrounded with wealth —but to be born in nature’s wide domain is greater still!

I was born sometime in the fall of 1818, near the mouth

of the riverTrent, called in our language, Sah-ge-dah—we- 2*