Ihavebeenassuredthatthiseffectoftheapproachofthewhitesisoftenfeltattwohundredleagues’distancefromtheirfrontier。Theirinfluenceisthusexertedovertribeswhosenameisunknowntothem;andwhosuffertheevilsofusurpationlongbeforetheyareacquaintedwiththeauthorsoftheirdistress。*e[Footnoted:\"Fiveyearsago，\"（saysVolneyinhis\"TableaudesEtats—Unis，\"p。370）\"ingoingfromVincennestoKaskaskia，aterritorywhichnowformspartoftheStateofIllinois，butwhichatthetimeImentionwascompletelywild（1797），youcouldnotcrossaprairiewithoutseeingherdsoffromfourtofivehundredbuffaloes。Therearenownoneremaining;theyswamacrosstheMississippitoescapefromthehunters，andmoreparticularlyfromthebellsoftheAmericancows。\"]
[Footnotee:ThetruthofwhatIhereadvancemaybeeasilyprovedbyconsultingthetabularstatementofIndiantribesinhabitingtheUnitedStatesandtheirterritories。（LegislativeDocuments，20thCongress，No。117，pp。90—105。）ItisthereshownthatthetribesinthecentreofAmericaarerapidlydecreasing，althoughtheEuropeansarestillataconsiderabledistancefromthem。]
BoldadventurerssoonpenetrateintothecountrytheIndianshavedeserted，andwhentheyhaveadvancedaboutfifteenortwentyleaguesfromtheextremefrontiersofthewhites，theybegintobuildhabitationsforcivilizedbeingsinthemidstofthewilderness。Thisisdonewithoutdifficulty，astheterritoryofahunting—nationisill—defined;itisthecommonpropertyofthetribe，andbelongstonooneinparticular，sothatindividualinterestsarenotconcernedintheprotectionofanypartofit。
AfewEuropeanfamilies，settledindifferentsituationsataconsiderabledistancefromeachother，soondriveawaythewildanimalswhichremainbetweentheirplacesofabode。TheIndians，whohadpreviouslylivedinasortofabundance，thenfinditdifficulttosubsist，andstillmoredifficulttoprocurethearticlesofbarterwhichtheystandinneedof。
Todriveawaytheirgameistodeprivethemofthemeansofexistence，aseffectuallyasifthefieldsofouragriculturistswerestrickenwithbarrenness;andtheyarereduced，likefamishedwolves，toprowlthroughtheforsakenwoodsinquestofprey。Theirinstinctiveloveoftheircountryattachesthemtothesoilwhichgavethembirth，*fevenafterithasceasedtoyieldanythingbutmiseryanddeath。Atlengththeyarecompelledtoacquiesce，andtodepart:theyfollowthetracesoftheelk，thebuffalo，andthebeaver，andareguidedbythesewildanimalsinthechoiceoftheirfuturecountry。Properlyspeaking，therefore，itisnottheEuropeanswhodriveawaythenativeinhabitantsofAmerica;itisfaminewhichcompelsthemtorecede;ahappydistinctionwhichhadescapedthecasuistsofformertimes，andforwhichweareindebtedtomoderndiscovery！