Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Relation Of A Captivity Among The Indians Of North America.*
The hunting season being now past , the Indians lived upon fish , without either bread , butter , or salt . This did not agree ivith my constitution ; and after suffering severely from a dysentery , I became so very weak as to be rendered incapable of walking for seven or eight days , during which my master ' s father intimated to me by way of consolation , that I should not be eaten if I died of that disorder ! Ten days after this master returned with the rest of his familand after much
, my y , talk of the success of their arms against the English , how many prisoners they had taken , & c , he looked at me , turning me at the same time round about , seeming surprised at seeing me now attired en suuvage . He asked for my hair , which the old man giving him , he put it carefully by . . Still my hands continued to be tied ; and whenever I had occasion to go out , an Indian boy held the end of the rope , which he fastened to the It not however long after
rafters of the hut when I came in again . was this , before my master at last unbound my hands , repeatedly impressing upon me the impossibility of my making an escape . I told him that 1 had no such design now , and feigned a sincere satisfaction with their manners and habits of life , which rny master thought I should take to , on account of my being but a stripling . I now frequently saw two of the soldiers who were taken along with me , but the Indians did not like us to have long conferences together . These short meetings , however , were very satisfactory . It gives one pleasure to meet a countryman in a foreign and a friendly land ; how
much more so , when in a captive state , amidst a nation ot savage manners , and of different colour from ourselves . Happy was I to converse familiarly with these poor fellows , whom a little before I would not suffer to address me without the usual marks of respect from an inferior towards a superior . Now there was no distinction ; and we used to compare notes with one another regarding the treatment we received from our respective masters . One of the soldiers told me that he had would form
been compelled to taste of Captain Robson ' s body . We fifty different plans of escape , all of which we as often rejected as impracticable , after considering them maturely . About the middle of May , we were in great distress for want of provisions , owing to the indolence of the natives , who never stir from thenhuts till necessity drives them , which was our case at this time . During four days the wind blew so hig h that no fish could be caught m the to venture outThese barks
lakes , their little bark canoes being unable . are generally navigated by two men , or by a man and a boy . The former stands at the prow , where there is a pole fixed , having a light at the end of it to attract the fish , the darkest nig hts being the most favourable for success . The man in the bow marks the fish approaching , and directs the boy to steer the canoe so that he may best strike the fish with his threepronged In this manner I have seen as much
harpoon , or - geeg . as two men could carry , of cat-fish , perch , and pike , taken m two hours time . And , independent of the satisfaction in procuring what is so necessary a part of sustenance among them , it is a great amusement , and really a pleasing sight , to behold upwards of fifty of these lights moving
in every direction on the surface ot the lake , whilst tlie cry ot tne WHO . beasts in the forests is the only sound to be heard . This latter circumstance occasions no uneasiness to the fishers , who are safe beyond reach of the prowlers . I observed that , the stormy weather had reduced us to the greatest
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Relation Of A Captivity Among The Indians Of North America.*
The hunting season being now past , the Indians lived upon fish , without either bread , butter , or salt . This did not agree ivith my constitution ; and after suffering severely from a dysentery , I became so very weak as to be rendered incapable of walking for seven or eight days , during which my master ' s father intimated to me by way of consolation , that I should not be eaten if I died of that disorder ! Ten days after this master returned with the rest of his familand after much
, my y , talk of the success of their arms against the English , how many prisoners they had taken , & c , he looked at me , turning me at the same time round about , seeming surprised at seeing me now attired en suuvage . He asked for my hair , which the old man giving him , he put it carefully by . . Still my hands continued to be tied ; and whenever I had occasion to go out , an Indian boy held the end of the rope , which he fastened to the It not however long after
rafters of the hut when I came in again . was this , before my master at last unbound my hands , repeatedly impressing upon me the impossibility of my making an escape . I told him that 1 had no such design now , and feigned a sincere satisfaction with their manners and habits of life , which rny master thought I should take to , on account of my being but a stripling . I now frequently saw two of the soldiers who were taken along with me , but the Indians did not like us to have long conferences together . These short meetings , however , were very satisfactory . It gives one pleasure to meet a countryman in a foreign and a friendly land ; how
much more so , when in a captive state , amidst a nation ot savage manners , and of different colour from ourselves . Happy was I to converse familiarly with these poor fellows , whom a little before I would not suffer to address me without the usual marks of respect from an inferior towards a superior . Now there was no distinction ; and we used to compare notes with one another regarding the treatment we received from our respective masters . One of the soldiers told me that he had would form
been compelled to taste of Captain Robson ' s body . We fifty different plans of escape , all of which we as often rejected as impracticable , after considering them maturely . About the middle of May , we were in great distress for want of provisions , owing to the indolence of the natives , who never stir from thenhuts till necessity drives them , which was our case at this time . During four days the wind blew so hig h that no fish could be caught m the to venture outThese barks
lakes , their little bark canoes being unable . are generally navigated by two men , or by a man and a boy . The former stands at the prow , where there is a pole fixed , having a light at the end of it to attract the fish , the darkest nig hts being the most favourable for success . The man in the bow marks the fish approaching , and directs the boy to steer the canoe so that he may best strike the fish with his threepronged In this manner I have seen as much
harpoon , or - geeg . as two men could carry , of cat-fish , perch , and pike , taken m two hours time . And , independent of the satisfaction in procuring what is so necessary a part of sustenance among them , it is a great amusement , and really a pleasing sight , to behold upwards of fifty of these lights moving
in every direction on the surface ot the lake , whilst tlie cry ot tne WHO . beasts in the forests is the only sound to be heard . This latter circumstance occasions no uneasiness to the fishers , who are safe beyond reach of the prowlers . I observed that , the stormy weather had reduced us to the greatest