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GODLE!!

- 4 JUL 1930

KIBRARY

AND

Chronicle of Remarkable and Interesting Events, &c.

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Dreadful Adventures PETER WILLIAMSON, whose extraordinary life, travels, and dreadful sufferings, are here recorded, was born in Hirnlay, in the parish of Aboyne, and county of Aberdeen, North Britain, of reputable parents, who supported him in the best manner they could, as long as they had the happiness of having him under their inspection: but fatally for him, and to their great grief, as it afterwards proved, he was sent to live with an aunt at Aberdeen, where, playing on the quay, with others of his companions, being of a stout, robust constitution, he was taken notice of by two fellows belonging to a vessel in the harbour, employed, as the trade then was, by some of the worthy merchants of the town, in that villainous and execrable pracVOL. I.

of Peter Williamson.

tice of stealing young children from their parents, and selling them as slaves in the plantations abroad.> Being marked out by those monsters of impiety as their prey, he was cajoled on board ship by them; where he was no sooner got, than they conducted him between the decks, to some others they had kidnapped in the same manner. At that time he had no sense of the fate that was destined for him, and spent the time in childish amusement, with his fellow-sufferers in the steerage, being never suffered to go upon deck whilst the vessel lay in the harbour; which was until such time as they had got in their loading, with a com plement of unhappy youths, for carrying on their wicked commerce. In about a month's time the ship set

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The

sail for America. When they arrived
on the coast they were destined for,
a hard gale of wind sprung up from
the south-east, and, to the captain's
great surprise, not thinking he was
near land, although having been
eleven weeks on his passage, about
twelve o'clock at night the ship
struck on a sand bank, off Cape May,
near the Capes of Delaware, and, to
the great terror and affright of the
ship's company, in a short time was
almost full of water. The boat was
then hoisted out, into which the cap-
tain and his fellow-villains, the crew,
got with some difficulty, leaving him
and his deluded companions to pe-
rish; as they naturally concluded
inevitable death to be their fate.
Thus abandoned and deserted, with-
out the least prospect of relief, but
threatened every moment with death,
did these villains leave them.
cries, the shrieks, and tears of a par-
cel of infants, had no effect on, or
caused the least remorse in the
breasts of these merciless wretches.
The ship being on a sandbank, which
did not give way to let her deeper,
they lay in the same deplorable con-
dition until morning, when, though
they saw the land of Cape May at
about a mile's distance, they knew
not what would be their fate. The
wind at length abated, and the cap-
tain, unwilling to lose all the cargo,
about ten o'clock sent some of his
crew in a boat to the ship's side to
bring them on shore, where they lay
in a sort of a camp, made of the sails
of the vessel and such other things
as they could get. The provisions
lasted us until they were taken in by
the vessel bound to Philadelphia,
lying on the island, near three weeks.
Very little of the cargo was saved
undamaged, and the vessel was en-
tirely lost. When arrived and land-
ed at Philadelphia, the capital of
Pennsylvania, the captain had soon
people enough who came to buy
them. He making the most of his
villainous loading, after his disaster,
sold them at about sixteen pounds per
head. What became of his unhap-
py companions he never knew; but
it was his lot to be sold to one of his
countrymen, whose name was Hugh

Wilson, a North Briton, for the term

of seven years, who had in his youth
uudergone the same fate as himself;
having been kidnapped from St.
Johnstown, in Scotland. He proved
a very good master to him and
they lived together in good harmony
nine years and ten months, when he
died, leaving him his best horse
which he rode, and as many other
articles as he afterwards sold for
twenty pounds sterling. This was a
great sum in his condition of life,
and so he thought of the best way to
improve it, which he did by living
savingly and discreetly, and working
for any one that would employ him.
Thus he went on until it came into
his head he wanted something he
had not got, and that was a wife.
On this occasion he made use of his
old master's advice, and looked for a
girl who had friends and a good
prospect of a settlement, for such
are the fortunes an industrious man
should seek in a wife. About this
time he married a wealthy planter's
daughter, though not quite with his
consent at first, but in a short time
they came to good terms; and, in
order to establish them in the world
in a decent manner, he made him a
deed of settlement of a tract of land,
that, unhappily for him as it after-
wards proved, lay on the frontiers of
the province of Pensylvania, near
the forks of Delaware, in Berks
county, containing about two hun-
dred acres, thirty of which were
well cleared and fit for immediate
use; wherein was a good house and
barn. The place pleasing him well,
he settled on it; and though it cost
him the major part of his money
buying stock, household furniture,
and implements for out-door work;
and happy as he was in a good wife,
yet did his felicity last him not long;
for twelve months after, the Indians
in the French interest, who had for
a long time before ravaged and de-
stroyed other parts of America,
began to be very troublesome on the
frontiers of his province, where they
generally appeared in small skulk-
ing parties, with yellings, shoutings,
and antic postures, instead of trum-
pets and drums, committing great
The Pensylvanians
devastations.
little imagined at first that the In-

in

dians, guilty of such outrages and violences, were some of those who pretended to be in the English interest; which alas! proved to be too true to many of them: for like the French in Europe, without regard to faith or treaties, they suddenly broke out into furious rapid outrages and devastations, but soon retired precipitately, having no stores or provisions but what they met with in their incursions; some, indeed, carried a bag with biscuit, or Indian corn therein, but not unless they had a long march to their destined place of action. And those French who were sent to dispossess them in that part of the world, being indefatigable in their duty, and continually contriving all manner of ways and means to win the Indians to their interest, many of whom had been too negligent, and sometimes, cruelly treated by those who pretended to be their protectors and friends, found it to be no difficult matter to get over to their interest, many who belonged to those nations in friendship with them, especially as the rewards they gave them were considerable, fifteen pounds sterling for every scalp.

One fatal evening; he was alone in the house, his wife was from home, gone to visit some of her relations, when he was all of a sudden surprised with the fearful warwhoop, and a tremendous attack on the door and palisade round; he flew to the chamber window with his fire-lock, but what chance had he with twelve savages armed with muskets and tomahawks? Knowing their cruelty and merciless disposition, and wishing to obtain some favour, he desisted firing; but how vain and fruitless are the efforts of one man against the united force of so many! and of such merciless monsters as he had here to deal with. One of them that could speak a little English, threatened him, "That if he did not come out, they would burn him alive in the house;" telling him farther, what he unhappily perceived, "That they were no friends to the English, but if he would come out and surrender himself prisoner, they would not kill him." His terror and distraction at hearing this is not to be

expressed by words, nor easily imagined by any person, unless in the same condition. Little could he depend on the promises of such creatures; and yet, if he did not, inevitable death, by being burnt alive, must be his lot. Distracted as he was in such deplorable circumstances, he chose to rely on the uncertainty of their promises, rather than meet with certain death by rejecting them; and acordingly went out of his house with his gun in his hand, not knowing what he did, or that he had it. Immediately on his approach, they rushed on him like so many tigers, and instantly disarmed him. Having him thus in their power, the merciless villains bound him to a tree near the door; they then went into the house, plun dered and destroyed every thing there was in it, carrying off what they could; the rest, together with the house, they set fire to, was consumed before his eyes. The barbarians, not satisfied with this, set fire to his barn, stable, and outhouses, wherein were about two hundred bushels of wheat, six cows, four horses, and five sheep, which underwent the same fate, being all entirely consumed to ashes. During the conflagration, to describe the thoughts, the fears, and misery that he felt, would be utterly impossible,

After this, an Indian with a tomahawk, fiercer than the rest, came up and threatened him with instant death if he would not go with them and help to carry away the things which they had stolen out of his house. Williamson complied, on account of his wife, whom he feared would return in the midst of this confusion, and become another victim to their fury, and thus farther distress him. He was heavily loaded with his own provisions, and the gang carried his arms, hatchets, and every tool they could find about the place. His miseries were great that night. He travelled on in this manner till morning when they stopped; and, after unloading him, fastened him with cords to a tree, while they kindled a fire. This being done, they danced around him, for some time, after their manner, with va

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