met with the like treatment, himself, wife, and all his miserable family, consisting of nine in number, being scalped, then cut in pieces and given to the swine. One of the substantial traders, belonging to the province, having business that called him some miles up the country, fell into the hands of these ruffians, who not only scalped him, but immediately roasted him before he was dead; then like cannibals, for want of other food, ate his whole body, and of his head made what they called an Indian pudding. From these few instances of savage cruelty, the deplorable situation of the defenseless inhabitants, and what they hourly suffered in that part of the globe, must strike the utmost horror, and cause in every breast the utmost detestation, not only against the authors, but against those who, through inattention, or pusillanimous or erroneous principles, suffered the savages at first, unrepelled, or even unmolested, to commit such outrages, depredations and murders. The three prisoners that were brought with these additional forces, constantly repining at their lot, and almost dead with their excessive hard treatment, contrived at last to make their escape; but being far from their own settlements, and not knowing the country, were soon after met by some others of the tribes, or nations at war with us, and brought back. The poor creatures, almost famished for want of sustenance, having had none during the time of their escape, were no sooner in the power of the barbarians, than two of them were tied to a tree, and a great fire made round them, where they remained till they were terribly scorched and burnt; when one of the villains with his scalping knife ripped open their bellies, took out their entrails, and burned them before their eyes, whilst the others were cutting, piercing and tearing the flesh from their breasts, hands, arms and legs, with red-hot irons, till they were dead. The third unhappy victim was reserved a few hours longer, to be, if possible, sacrificed in a more cruel manner; his arms were tied close to his body, and a hole being dug, deep enough for him to stand upright, he was put into it, and the earth rammed and beat in all round his body up to his neck, so that his head only appeared above ground. They then scalped him, and there let him remain for three or four hours, in the greatest agonies; after which they made a small fire near his head, causing him to suffer the most excruciating torments; whilst the poor creature could only cry for mercy by killing him immediately, for his brains were boiling in his head. Inexorable to all he said, they continued the fire till his eyes gushed out of their sockets; such agonizing torments did this unhappy creature suffer for near two hours before he was quite dead. They then cut off his head, and buried it with the other bodies; my task being to dig the graves, which, feeble and terrified as I was, the dread of suffering the same fate enabled me to do. A great snow now falling, the barbarians were fearful lest the white people should, by their tracks, find out their skulking retreats, which obliged them to make the best of their way to their winter quarters, about two hundred miles farther from any plantation or inhabitants. After a long and painful journey, being almost starved, I arrived with this infernal crew at Alamingo. There I found a number of wigwams, full of their women and children. Dancing, singing and shouting, were their general amusements: and in all their festivals and dances, they relate what successes they have had and what damages they have sustained in their expeditions, in which I now unhappily became part of their theme. The severity of the cold increasing, they stripped me of my clothes for their own use, and gave me such as they usually wore themselves, being a piece of a blanket, a pair of moccasons, or shoes, with a yard of coarse cloth, to put round me instead of breeches. At Alamingo I remained near two months, till the snow was off the ground. Whatever thoughts I might have of making my escape, to carry them into execu tion was impracticable, being so far from any plantations or white people, and the severe weather rendering my limbs in a manner quite stiff and motionless. However, I contrived to defend myself against the inclemency of the weather as well as I could, by making myself a little wigwam with bark of the trees, covering it with earth, which made it resemble a cave; and, to prevent the ill effects of the cold, I kept a good fire always near the door. My liberty of going about, was, indeed, more than I could have expected, but they well knew the impracticability of my escaping from them. Seeing me outwardly easy and submissive, they would sometimes give me a little meat, but my chief food was Indian corn. At length the time came when they were preparing themselves for another expedition against the planters and white people; but before they set out, they were joined by many other Indians. As soon as the snow was quite gone, they set forth on their journey towards the back parts of the province of Pennsylvania, all leaving their wives and children behind in the wigwams. They were now a formidable body, amounting to near 150. My business was to carry what they thought proper to load me with, but they never intrusted me with a gun. We marched on several days without any thing particular occurring, almost famished for want of provisions; for my part, I had nothing but a few stalks of Indian corn, which I was glad to eat dry; nor did the Indians themselves fare much better; for as we drew near the plantations they were afraid to kill any game, lest the noise of their guns should alarm the inhabitants. When we again arrived at the Blue-hills, about thirty miles from the Irish settlements before-mentioned, we encamped three days, though God knows we had neither tents nor any thing else to defend us from the inclemency of the air, having nothing to lie on but the grass, their usual method of lodging, pitching, or encamping, by night, being in parties of ten or twelve men to a fire, where they lie upon the grass or brush, -- wrapped up in a blanket, with their feet to the fire. During our last stay here, a sort of council of war was held, when it was agreed to divide themselves into companies of about twenty men each; after which every captain marched with his party where he thought proper. I still belonged to my old masters, but was left behind on the mountains with ten Indians, to stay till the rest would return, not thinking it proper to carry me nearer to Conococheague or the cther plantations. Here I began to meditate an espape, and though I knew the country round extremely well, yet I was very cautious of giving the least suspicion of any such intention. However, the third day after the grand body left us, my companions thought proper to traverse the mountains in search of game for their subsistence, leaving me bound in such a manner that I could not escape: at night, when they returned, having unbound me, we all sat down together to supper on what they killed, and soon after (being greatly fatigued with their day's excursion) they composed themselves to rest as usual. I now tried various ways to ascertain whether it was a scheme to prove my intentions or not; but after making a noise and walking about, sometimes touching them with my feet, I found there was no fallacy. Then I resolved, if possible, to get one of their guns, and, if discovered, to die in my defense, rather than be taken: for that purpose I made various efforts to get one from under their heads, where they always secured them, but in vain. Disappointed in this, I began to despair of carrying my design into execution: yet, after a little reflection, and trusting myself to the Divine protection, I set forward, naked and defenseless as I was. Such was my terror however, that in going from them I halted, and paused every four or five yards, looking towards the spot where I had left them, lest they should awake and miss me; but when I was two hundred yards from them, I mended my pace, and made as much haste as I possibly could to the foot of the mountains; when, on a sudden, I was struck with the great est terror at hearing the wood-cry, as it is called, which the savages I had left were making upon missing their charge. The more my terror increased, the faster I pushed on, and, scarce knowing where I trod, drove through the woods with the utmost precipitation, sometimes falling and bruising myself, cutting my feet and legs against the stones in a miserable manner. But faint and maimed as I was, I continued my flight till daybreak, when, without having any thing to sustain nature but a little corn, I crept into a hollow tree, where I lay very snug, and returned my prayers and thanks to the Divine Being, who had thus far favored my escape. But my repose was in a few hours destroyed at hearing the voices of the savages near the place where I had hid, threatening and talking how they would use me, if they got me again. However, they at last left the spot, and I remained in my apartment all that day without further molestation. At night I ventured forwards again, but thinking each twig that touched me a savage. The third day I concealed myself in like manner as before, and at night, traveled, keeping off the main road as much as possible, which lengthened my journey many miles. But how shall I describe the terror I felt on the fourth night, when, by a rustling I made among the leaves, a party of Indians, that lay round a small fire, which I did not perceive, started from the ground, and, seizing their arms, ran from the fire amongst the woods. Whether to move forward or rest where I was I knew not, when to my great surprise and joy, I was relieved by a parcel of swine that made towards the place where I guessed the savages to be; who, on seeing them, and imagining that they had caused the alarm, very merrily returned to the fire, and lay again down to sleep. Bruised, crippled, and terrified as I was, I pursued my journey till break of day, when, thinking myself safe, I lay down under a great log, and slept till about noon. Before evening I reached the summit of a great hill, and looking out if I could spy any habitations of white people, |
