His Tribe. The Passamaquoddy Indians, or Openangoes, were a branch of the Etechemin nation, and apparently of comparatively recent origin. Their earliest village near Campobello was at Joe's Point, near St. Andrews. The majority of the remnants of the tribe are found at Pleasant Point, near Eastport, at Peter Dana's Point, near Princeton, and at The Camps, on the border of Calais. Their language is fast dying out; but their traditions and customs have been carefully studied and collected largely by Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, of Calais, and also by Professor J. Walter Fewkes, who has taken down on the wax cylinders of the phonograph many of their songs and stories.
The following original poem by one of the tribe was written for a sale that was held on August, 1883, for the benefit of a new rectory on the Island, in which Miss Lucy Derby was interested, and through whose efforts the rectory was built, the Company giving the land.
AMWES-WINTO-WAGEN.
Amwézik 'klithwon ya skedabe zogel;
Skedap tatchuwi melan kekousé kiziolgweh.
Ulzee-ik 'lee madjhé goltook kizosook;
Tatchuuwi tewebn'm nenwel kthlee-tahazoo wagenen woolsum'kik.
Piyemee absegékook beskwaswesuk tchicook
Pèmee woolip p'setawkqu'm'see you wen.
P'skèdab tatchuwè oolazoo weeahl m'pseeoo-wenil.
Amwess ooktee-in aboozek;
Uppes kootee-in hedlègit;
Beskwas'wess lookquem hahze;
Nojeemeeko gèmit chooiwigeou:
Weejokègem wee you'h.
Piel John Gabriel kweezee-toon yoot lin to wagun.
Kee zee skee jin wih tun;
Whu-titli keezeetoon Ebawg'hwit,
Wè jee kissi tahzik wenoch chigwam.
N'paowlin kweezee Iglesmani tun.
THE SONG OF THE BEES.
The bees make honey for man;
Man should give something to God.
The trees lift their tops to the sun;
We should lift up our hearts to our father.
The smallest flower in the forest
Gives out a perfume for all.
Man should do good unto all men.
The bee has a tree (for a home);
The tree has a place to grow;
The flower has a stem;
The clergyman must have a house:
May this song help it.
Peter John Gabriel made this song.
He made it in Indian;
He made it in Campobello (the island by the shore),
To help to build the house.
[A]N'pow-o-lin (the scholar, or man learned in mysteries) put it into English.
[A] Mr. Charles G. Leland.
The Fenians. Among the Islanders are many whom it is delightful to know. They are all interested in affairs of church, school, and state, and eager for the future commercial prosperity of the Island. Excitement in local politics often runs high, but only once—in 1886—has there been resort to arms. Then the Fenians were at Eastport and Lubec. From the latter place some came over to low water mark, but were driven back "by the shine of the rifles"; for Captain Luke Byron, with one hundred and fifty Islanders, duly equipped, was stationed at the Narrows, Havre de Lutre, and Wilson's Beach. Though the Fenians were at Eastport but little more than a month, the Campobello committee of safety remained on guard three months. But when an English man-of-war came into the harbor, the Fenians, to avoid capture, sank their own vessel off the Narrows, beyond the lighthouse, and escaped themselves towards Machias.
Climate. The summer climate of Campobello is cool and delightful, the thermometer ranging between fifty-five and seventy-five degrees; so one can be outdoors all day long without becoming oppressed by the heat. The extensive forests of balsamic firs seem to affect the atmosphere, soothing and invigorating the visitor by day, and inviting sleep by night.
Water. The greater part of the Island is fertile. The common field and garden plants and vegetables grow abundantly, while the deep layer of drift gravel affords excellent well water at almost all points. The water supply for the hotels and cottages is, however, brought in pipes from distant springs, and filters itself by passing through a natural reservoir of sand.