 now stood in the hall of Marmaduke
Temple. He had, for a long time, been an associate of the white-men,
particularly in their wars; and, having been, at a season when his services were
of importance, much noticed and flattered, he had turned Christian, and was
baptized by the name of John. He had suffered severely, in his family, during
the recent war, having had every soul to whom he was allied, cut off by an
inroad of the enemy; and when the last, lingering remnant of his nation,
extinguished their fires, amongst the hills of the Delaware, he alone had
remained, with a determination of laying his bones in that country, where his
fathers had so long lived and governed.
    It was only, however, within a few months, that he had appeared among the
mountains that surrounded Templeton. To the hut of the old hunter, he seemed
peculiarly welcome; and, as the habits of the Leather- were so nearly
assimilated to those of the savages, the conjunction of their interests excited
no surprise. They resided in the same cabin, ate of the same food, and were
chiefly occupied in the same pursuits.
    We have already mentioned the baptismal name of this ancient chief; but in
his conversation with Natty, held in the language of the Delawares, he was heard
uniformly to call himself Chingachgook, which, interpreted, means the Great
Snake. This name he had acquired in youth, by his skill and prowess in war; but
when his brows began to wrinkle with time, and he stood alone, the last of his
family, and his particular tribe, the few Delawares, who yet continued about the
head-waters of their river, gave him the mournful appellation of Mohegan.
Perhaps there was something of deep feeling, excited in the bosom of this
inhabitant of the forest, by the sound of a name, that recalled the idea of his
nation in ruins, for he seldom used it himself - never, indeed, excepting on the
most solemn occasions; but the settlers had united, according to the Christian
custom, his baptismal with his national name, and to them, he was generally
known as John Mohegan, or, more familiarly, as Indian John.
    From his long association with the white-men, the habits of Mohegan, were a
mixture of the civilized and savage states, though there was certainly a strong
preponderance in favour of the latter. In common with all his people, who dwelt
within the influence of the Anglo-Americans, he had acquired new wants, and his
