Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 5 1887.djvu/154

 146 hiding in a heap of sweet potatoe-vines. The whole village was destroyed, the rebels sued for peace, and never afterwards presumed to rise against their ruler.

The cruelty and cowardice above depicted places the actors almost on a level with the famed "Yaller-bellies." Still, does not the proverb, "All is fair in love and war," hold good even with more cultivated peoples than those under notice?

The great success of another chief as a hunter was attributed to his power at staying the burning of the long grass when the fire approached near where he crouched, so that naturally the deer, fleeing before the conflagration, ran for shelter to the very spot where he was posted.

An anecdote is related which is no doubt intended as a sly hit at the genus "fop": —

Two young warriors of goodly appearance paid more attention to their personal adornment than was compatible with the due performance of duties obligatory on them as members of a community, and this of course gave great annoyance to those less favoured by nature. Our heroes, however, were too lost in self-admiration to notice this. One day they were walking along the road in all the glory of feathers and tasselled belts, when two snakes, observing their swagger, determined to humble them somewhat. Assuming the shape of beautiful girls, they accosted the gallants, describing themselves as daughters of the chief of a distant tribe, who, finding none of their own young men handsome enough for husbands, had determined to travel round until they met with two who came up to their ideal of manly beauty. They professed to have now succeeded beyond their expectations, and asked the young gentlemen to sit down with them for a little, with a view of discovering whether mutual arrangements could be made. The delighted beaux gladly assented, and, as the ladies appeared nowise averse to a flirtation, became most pressing in their attentions. Matters progressed so favourably that they at last attempted to snatch a kiss from lips invitingly pouted, when they suddenly found themselves embracing two slimy twisting serpents, which soon wriggled away into a cleft in the rocks. The disgusted and disappointed swains spat after them, but the incident had been