The Last of the Mohicans, CHAPTER 21 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How do the travelers navigate through the wilderness at the beginning of Chapter 21?

   • By following a well-marked trail blazed into the trees
   • By using a compass and map carried by Colonel Munro
   • Correct answer: By following a star and the direction of water-courses
   • By tracking the sound of French cannons from Fort Ticonderoga

   Hawkeye and the Mohicans guide the party by starlight and by following the direction of water-courses through the uncharted wilderness.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Uncas wait silently before revealing the trail he has found?

   • He is afraid the Hurons are nearby and listening for sounds
   • Correct answer: He follows the Native custom of waiting for his elder's permission to speak
   • He is not confident enough in his findings to share them yet
   • He wants to confirm his discovery by checking additional evidence first

   Uncas defers to his father Chingachgook, following the Native American custom of respecting elders. He remains silent until Chingachgook motions for him to speak.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How does Uncas uncover the hidden moccasin print at the abandoned campsite?

   • He brushes away leaves and debris covering the streambank
   • He follows a set of animal tracks that lead away from the spring
   • Correct answer: He diverts the stream into another channel, exposing the muddy bed
   • He lights a torch to examine the ground more carefully at night

   Uncas rakes earth across the turbid stream from the spring, diverting its course into another channel. When the narrow bed dries, he spots the moccasin impression in the moist alluvion.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How does Hawkeye identify the hidden moccasin print as belonging to David Gamut?

   • The print is unusually large, matching David's tall frame
   • Correct answer: The print shows a heavy heel and squared toes, unlike an Indian's gait
   • The print has a distinctive patch on the sole from a repaired moccasin
   • The print is accompanied by a musical note scratched in the mud

   Hawkeye notes that the weight is too much on the heel and the toes are squared, characteristic of a European walker rather than a Native American. He compares measurements to David's print found elsewhere and confirms the match.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What device did Magua use to carry Cora and Alice without leaving their footprints?

   • A canoe dragged along the streambed behind the walking party
   • Correct answer: A handbarrow made of boughs and bound together with withes
   • A pair of snowshoes strapped to each woman's feet backwards
   • A litter woven from deer hides and carried between two horses

   The pursuers find the remains of a "sort of handbarrow, that had been rudely constructed of boughs, and bound together with withes," which Magua used to carry the women across the stream.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • Heyward correctly identifies the beaver colony as an animal settlement when he first sees it.

     Didn't happen

     Heyward mistakes the beaver colony for a native village of about a hundred earthen dwellings, and believes the beavers are warriors crawling on all fours dragging some "formidable engine." Hawkeye laughs at his error.

   • Hawkeye uses the signal of three crow calls when danger approaches.

     Didn't happen

     Hawkeye establishes three croaks of a crow as the danger signal, but the signal is never actually used in this chapter. The chapter ends peacefully with the discovery of David Gamut at the beaver village.

   • Uncas finds the two Narragansett horses wandering loose with broken saddles.

     Happened

     Uncas reappears "leading the two fillies, with their saddles broken, and the housings soiled, as though they had been permitted to run at will for several days." Magua released them when the terrain became too rugged.

   • Hawkeye captures the stranger he finds near the beaver village by force.

     Didn't happen

     Rather than seizing the figure by the throat, Hawkeye recognizes him as David Gamut and simply taps him lightly on the shoulder, asking, "How now, friend! have you a mind to teach the beavers to sing?"

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does the word "alluvion" mean as used in the phrase "the impression of a moccasin in the moist alluvion"?

   • A type of hard clay found near riverbanks
   • Correct answer: Sediment or matter deposited by flowing water
   • A patch of moss growing in a shaded area
   • The smooth stone surface at the bottom of a stream

   "Alluvion" refers to material such as silt, sand, or sediment deposited by flowing water. The moist alluvion in the streambed preserved the moccasin print after Uncas diverted the water.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does the word "acclivity" mean in the sentence about Uncas springing "up the side of a little acclivity"?

   • A dense thicket of trees and undergrowth
   • Correct answer: An upward slope or incline of the ground
   • A shallow depression filled with standing water
   • A rocky outcropping that juts above the treeline

   "Acclivity" means an upward slope or incline. Uncas bounds up the small hill to reveal the freshly turned earth that confirms the trail.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What is David Gamut doing when Hawkeye discovers him at the beaver village?

   • Building a shelter from branches and attempting to start a fire
   • Correct answer: Attempting to teach the colony of beavers to sing psalms
   • Carving a message into a tree trunk to signal the rescue party
   • Praying silently at the edge of the lake while the beavers swim

   David is trying to teach beavers to sing, earnestly believing that "the Being that gave them power to improve His gifts so well, would not deny them voices to proclaim His praise."

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