Several long palavers quickly ensued between the red men and the
white, and the two great chiefs who seemed to hold despotic rule
over the assembled tribes were extremely favourable to the idea of
universal peace which was propounded to them. In several set speeches
of great length and very considerable power, these natural orators
explained their willingness to enter into amicable relations with all
the surrounding nations, as well as with the white men.
"But," said Pee-eye-em, the chief of the Shirry-dikas, a man above
six feet high, and of immense muscular strength--"but my tribe cannot
answer for the Banattees, who are robbers, and cannot be punished,
because they dwell in scattered families among the mountains. The
Banattees are bad; they cannot be trusted."
None of the Banattees were present at the council when this was said;
and if they had been it would have mattered little, for they were
neither fierce nor courageous, although bold enough in their own
haunts to murder and rob the unwary.
The second chief did not quite agree with Pee-eye-em.
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