In the beginning of winter he used to raise me up by day light every morning, and make me sit down in the creek up to my chin in the cold water, in order to make me hardy as he said, whilst he would sit on the bank smoaking his pipe, until he thought I had been long enough in the water, he would then bid me to dive. After I came out of the water he would order me not to go near the fire until I would be dry. I was kept at that till the water was frozen over, he would then break the ice for me and send me in as before. Some time in the winter, perhaps not long before Christmas, I took very sick; I lay all winter at the fire side, and an old Squaw attended me, (what little attendance I got;) she used to go out in the snow and hunt up herbs by the old tops; the roots of which she would boil and make a kind of drink for me. She would never suffer me to taste cold water, nor any kind of flesh, or any thing that was sweet or salt. The only nourishment that I was suffered to take, was homony, or dumplings, made of coarse Indian meal boiled in water. As I said before, I lay all winter at the fire side, I had nothing but a small blanket to cover me, part of which I drew under me for my bed, my legs drew up so that I was obliged to crawl when I had occasion to go out of doors. I remained in that situation till corn planting time, when I began to get better. They anointed my knees and hams with bears oil, and made me keep my legs stretched out as tight as I could bear them, by which means I got the use of my joints in about a month's time.

Shortly after I got able to run about, a dreadful accident happened in my hands, in the following manner. The most of the Indians of the town were either at their corn-fields or out a fishing-my uncle had been unwell

for some time-he was below the town at the creek side, where he had an Indian doctor sweating him, and conjuring out his disorder. He had a large pistol, which he had hung up by the guard at the head of his bed, there was two brothers, relations of ours, the oldest was perhaps about my own age, the other about two years younger. The oldest boy took down the pistol and cocked it, threatening for diversion to shoot his brother: the little fellow ran off from us-I assisted him to let down the cock of the pistol which he held in his left hand with the muzzle towards his body, and his right hand against the cock: I would then (after cautioning him to turn the muzzle past his body.) draw the trigger, and he would let down the cock slowly. I advised him several times to lay by the pistol, which he would do; but as soon as his brother would come back to us, he would get it again. At last his brother got afraid and would not come near us any more. He then threatened to shoot me; I fled out of the house from him. The town lay in a semi-circular form, round a bend of the creek: there happened to be a woman at the upper end of the town, (as we lived at the lower end) that had observed me when I fled out of the house from him-he immediately called me back to assist him to let down the cock; I refused to go, unless he would turn the butt of the pistol to me, which he did, I went in, in haste ( and forgot to caution him to hold the muzzle to one side) and drew the trigger; the consequence was, the pistol went off and shot him in the stomach, the pistol flew out of our hands; he laid his hands across his breast and ran out of the house, screaming aloud as he ran; I ran out of the house and looked after him, he went towards their own door, (about forty or fifty yards off,) he quit

screaming before he fell;-it was late in the evening; his mother and grandmother were coming from their cornfield at that instant; his grandmother just cast her eye towards him, as she came past him, and came to me where I was standing; before they got near me, I told her that Watook, (for that was his name,) had shot himself; she turned away from me without saying any thing. In a short time all the Indians in the town collected about me, examining me, and getting me to show them what way he took to shoot himself; I told them that he took the pistol in his left hand and held the muzzle to his stomach, whilst he pushed the trigger from him with his thumb: I held to the one story. At last the woman (whom I mentioned had seen me when I fled out of the house from him) came and told them that she was standing out of doors looking at me across the bend of the creek, at the time she heard the report of the pistol, and that I was standing a considerable distance from the house at the time-at which they all dispersed.

There was something very singular in this affair, as the same woman and her husband, about a year after the above accident, was the means of saving my life when I was apparently drowned, as I shall have occasion to mention hereafter.

It happened to be the first funeral that I had seen amongst them, and not being acquainted with their customs, I was put to a terrible fright; shortly after dark they began to fire off their guns, which they always do when any one dies. As all the family had gone to the wake, I was left by myself in the house; when the firing began I concluded that they were about to take my life; I therefore crept under a bed that was set upon forks drove into the ground, a considerable height off the floor,

where I lay as close to the wall as I could get, till about break of day, when I was aroused by the report of their guns again. I did not go near the corpse-however I heard them say, that he bled none, as the colfing and the blaze of the powder had followed the ball into his body. There were several young squaws who had seen us running about with the pistol; they frequently charged me with being the cause of the boy's death, which I always denied, but Queek-queek-co-mooch'-que, a little white girl, (a prisoner,) who lived with the family that the deceased belonged to-was like to be the worst evidence against me, she told them that she saw me have the pistol in my hands several times-but the woman's evidence overruled the whole of them; however their minds were not entirely divested of the thoughts that I had taken his life, as they often cast it up to me afterwards, that I had shot Watook; especially when I would happen to get into a quarrel with any of the little fellows, they would tell me that I had killed one of them already, and that I wanted to kill another; however I declare the thing was merely accidental.

When I reflect on the above accident, and the circumstances attending it, my mind flows with gratitude to that Almighty Being whose wise providence directs the affairs of the world; I do not say that a lie is justifiable in the sight of God, yet I am led to believe that the woman was guided by providence in telling a manifest falsehood, which, perhaps, was the means of prolonging my days; as I am led to believe, had the true circumstances of the case been known to them, I never should have seen the light of another day; nor should I have expected that my body would have been laid under the ground, but that I would rather have been thrown into

the creek, to be devoured by fish, or left above ground to be devoured by vermin, as I knew to be the case with two men, which I shall mention before I close this narrative.

Sometime in the summer following, we went to a treat with the French at Presqu'ile-on our way there, we went by an Indian town at or near where Meadville now stands just as we got to the town, we observed a number of Batteaux coming down French Creek; the French came to the shore where they were; one of them offered to purchase me from the Indians; he offered for me an old spade, wanting the handle, (which, perhaps, was the lowest value that ever was set upon me,) they laughed scornfully at him for his folly: however, they decamped immediately, for fear the French might come and steal me away by night. When we got to Presqu'ile, I was given up to my Indian mother whom I had never seen before. After the treaty was over, my old uncle returned to Shenanggo, and left me with my old mother and two brothers something older than myself; we had a step-father also, who hunted for us. We moved from Presqu'ile near to fort Le Beauf, where my mother had raised a small patch of corn; we lived there till the fall, occasionally going to the fort to draw rations, as the French constantly supplied the Indians with provisions whilst they lay about the fort. The French always observed to fire off a swivel, as a salute when the Indians came to the fort with prisoners or scalps.

Towards fall my old brother, (I call him old because he was the oldest of the family; he was not more than twenty two or three) came to us, I had not seen him from the time I was given to him at fort Duquesne (or Pittsburg) till then; he came to take us to Shenanggo