Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 2.djvu/138

Rh And how glad was my heart as I planted the flag of America upon that mountain-top, and beheld it fluttering to the breezes of heaven in the sun's light. The red, white, and blue—the argent stars—seemed gifted with a speaking spirit that said, "God hath ever blessed, and ever will bless this emblem of freedom and power!" Yes, said I, mentally, that banner now floats where white man never stood before. The American flag precedes all others in proclaiming that this is the inceptive moment when civilization, with all its attendant virtues, makes hither its advance.

RAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG.

How soul-inspiring was the scene before me as, drinking in the sweets presented to my eyes, I wended my way from one mountain-top to another. It was night when I got back to our encampment, and I was immediately greeted with two welcome presents of blueberries. Tweroong brought hers in a gold-banded china saucer. And a most strange sight it was, here amid the gray old rocks, and among this iron people, to see such an emblem of civilization as a tea-saucer. It was brim full of ripe, luscious berries, which were then very abundant. As I descended from the mountains I saw that the white