Chapter XXXII: Appendix: Narrative (5)

I mean not to point out the following circumstance as the immediate judgment of Heaven, and intended as an atonement for this slaughter, but I cannot omit that very few of those different tribes of Indians that shared in it ever lived to return home. The small-pox, by means of their communication with the Europeans, found its way among them, and made an equal havoc to what they themselves had done. The methods they pursued on the first attack of that malignant disorder, to abate the fever attending it, rendered it fatal. While their blood was in a state of fermentation, and nature was striving to throw out the peccant matter, they checked her operations by plunging into the water; the consequence was that they died by hundreds. The few that survived, were transformed by it into hideous objects, and bore with them to the grave deep indented marks of this much dreaded disease.

Monsieur Montcalm fell soon after on the plains of Quebec.

That the unprovoked cruelty of this commander was not approved of by the generality of his countrymen, I have since been convinced of by many proofs. Only one, however, which I received from a person who was witness to it, shall I at present give. A Canadian merchant, of some consideration, having heard of the surrender of the English fort, celebrated the fortunate event with great rejoicings and hospitality, according to the custom of that country; but no sooner did the news of the massacre which ensued reach his ears, than he put an immediate stop to the festivities, and exclaimed in the severest terms against the inhuman permission; declaring at the same time that those who had connived at it had thereby drawn down on that part of their king's dominions the vengeance of Heaven. To this he added, that he much feared the total loss of them, would deservedly be the consequence. How truly this prediction has been verified, we well know.

NARRATIVE OF THE CAPTIVITY

OF

MRS. SCOTT.

Mrs. Scott, a resident of Washington county, Virginia, was taken captive by Indians on the night of the twenty-ninth of June, 1785. Her husband and all her children were slain; and before morning she was forced to commence her march through the wilderness.

On the eleventh day of her captivity, while in charge of four Indians, provision becoming scarce, a halt was made, and three of the number went on a hunting excursion. Being left in the care of an old man, she made him believe she was reconciled to her condition, and thus threw him off his guard. Anxious to escape, and having matured her plans, she asked him, in the most disinterested manner possible, to let her go to a small stream, near by, and wash her apron, which was besmeared with the blood of one of her children. He gave her leave, and while he was busy in "graining a deer-skin," she started off. Arriving at the stream, without a moment's hesitation, she pushed on in the direction of a mountain. Traveling till late at night, she came into a valley where she hoped to find the track along which she had been taken by her captors, and thereby be able to retrace her steps. Hurrying across the valley to the margin of a river, which she supposed must be the eastern branch of the Kentucky, she discovered in the sand the tracks of two men who had followed the stream upward and returned. Thinking them to be the prints of pursuers, and that they had returned from the search, she took courage, thanked God, and was prepared to continue her flight.

On the third day she came very near falling into the hands of savages, a company whom she supposed had been sent to Clinch river on a pilfering excursion. Hearing their approach before they came in sight, she concealed herself, and they passed without noticing her. She now became greatly alarmed, and was so bewildered as to lose her way and to wander at random for several days.

At length, coming to a stream that seemed to flow from the east, she concluded it must be Sandy river; and resolving to trace it to its source, which was near a settlement where she was acquainted, she pushed on for several days, till she came into mountainous regions and to craggy steeps. There, in the vicinity of a "prodigious water-fall," she was forced to leap from a precipice, upon some rocks, and was so stunned as to be obliged to make a short delay in her journey.

Soon after passing through the mountain, (Laurel mountain,) she was bitten by a snake which she supposed was venomous. She killed it, and expected her turn to die would come next; but the only injury she received was some pain and the slight swelling of one foot. A writer, whose narration we follow, and whose facts are more reliable than his philosophy, thinks that, being "reduced to a mere skeleton, with fatigue, hunger and grief," she was probably, on that account, "saved from the effects of the poisonous fangs."

Leaving the river, Mrs. Scott came to a forked valley, and watching the flight of birds, took the branch they did, and in two days came in sight of New Garden, the settlement on Clinch river, before referred to. Thus, after wandering in the wilderness for six long weeks, almost destitute of clothing, without a weapon of defense or instrument for obtaining provision; exposed to wild beasts and merciless savages; subsisting a full month on the juice of young cane stalks, sassafras leaves and similar food, looking to God in prayer for guidance by day, and for protection by night, shielded from serious harm, and led by an unseen Hand, on the eleventh of August, the wanderings of the widowed and childless captive were brought to a close.

J. C.

THE END.

* * * * *

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

Punctuation has been corrected without note.

Alternate and archaic spellings have been retained unless
listed below.

Obvious misprints have been corrected without note.

Inconsistencies in the hyphenation of native words have
been retained.

Page 10: "Allegany" changed to "Alleghany" (in which I had
descended the Alleghany).

Page 10: "Apalachian" changed to "Appalachian" (their
parent beds in the Appalachian range.)

Page 13: "bouyancy" changed to "buoyancy" (idea of the
buoyancy of American character).

Page 13: "Cincinnatti" changed to "Cincinnati" (the late
Dr. Sellman of Cincinnati).

Page 16: "Cincinnatti" changed to "Cincinnati" (occurred
on the descent to Cincinnati).

Page 23: "Pittsburg" changed to "Pittsburgh" (from
Pittsburgh to Shawneetown).

Page 29: "seige" changed to "siege" (he was at the siege
of Bergen-op-zoom) and (at the siege of Louisburg).

Page 32: "withou-" changed to "without" (without beds or
fire).

Page 37: "deluvial" changed to "diluvial" (large areas of
diluvial earth).

Page 40: "porphorytic" changed to "porphyritic" (the
greenstone is handsomely porphyritic).

Page 41: "Sante" changed to "Santa" (to Santa Fe and
Chihuahua.)

Page 42: "mountanious" changed to "mountainous" (the wide
and mountainous tracts).

Page 42: "minerological" changed to "mineralogical"
(several objects of mineralogical and geological
collection).

Page 43: "Massachussetts" changed to "Massachusetts" (the
one native of Massachusetts).

Page 44: "injre" changed to "injure" (hobbled he will
injure his legs).

Page 44: "characterestics" changed to "characteristics"
(thus united characteristics of three varieties).

Page 48: "shists" changed to "schists" (broken down slates
and schists).

Page 55: "seanned" changed to "scanned" (and vale after
vale were patiently scanned).

Page 58: "ancle" changed to "ankle" (well nigh cured his
ankle).

Page 68: "auspicies" changed to "auspices" (under better
auspices).

Page 71: "CONSTUTION" changed to "CONSTITUTION" (AND
CONSTITUTION OF THE INDIAN FAMILY).

Page 74: "lattitude" changed to "latitude" (the tribes
north of latitude 42°.)

Page 75: "somtimes" changed to "sometimes" (and such is,
sometimes the case).

Page 76: "horriffic" changed to "horrific" (is to some
horrific).

Page 83: "cot" changed to "not" (did not alter her
purpose).

Page 86: "indominitable" changed to "indomitable" (and
each was the indomitable foe of the race.)

Page 93: "accasion" changed to "occasion" (On another
occasion).

Page 100: "her's" changed to "hers" (She rested with hers
suspended).

Page 100: "dissention" changed to "dissension" (Internal
dissension has done more to destroy).

Page 109: "Sault-ste-Mairie" changed to "Sault Ste-Marie"
(and aged and respected hunter of Sault Ste-Marie).

Page 111: "impercations" changed to "imprecations"
(denouncing imprecations upon).

Page 114: "Bawaiting" changed to "Bawating" (they were
permitted to remain at Bawating).

Page 114: "Obenangoes" changed to "Obinangoes" (The
Obinangoes eventually emigrated).

Page 114: "compasionate" changed to "compassionate" (mild,
and compassionalte tone).

Page 114: "ths" changed to "the" (again assured that the
cord).

Page 124: "un" changed to "an" (he had made an upright
figure).

Page 125: word missing in original (The idea grew into his
mind that at some "missing word").

Page 126: "passsed" changed to "passed" (many days
passed).

Page 132: "Bawiting" changed to "Batwating" (along the
north coast of lake Huron to Bawating) and (along the
north shore of lake Huron and of Bawating).

Page 135: "beseiged" changed to "besieged" (who besieged
twelve and took nine).

Page 135: "Pittsburg" changed to "Pittsburgh" (the present
sites of Pittsburg and Erie).

Page 140: "Chagomiegon" changed to "Chagoimegon"
(rendezvous was Chagoimegon).

Page 145: "cheiftan" changed to "chieftain" (And the fate
of their chieftain deplore--deplore).

Page 148: "glace" changed to "glance" (only necessary to
glance backward a short way).

Page 161: "visiter" changed to "visitor" (that the fearful
visitor came.)

Page 165: "motly" changed to "motley" (The motley heap of
gaudy and soiled stuffs).

Page 179: "listle" changed to "little" (and be allowed a
little time to replenish).

Page 189: "peces" changed to "pieces" (on the bright side
of one of the brass pieces).

Page 192: "Chegoimgon" changed to "Chegoimegon" (located
at Chegoimegon, on Lake Superior).

Page 192: "Sault Ste. Maries" changed to "Sault Ste Marie"
(the late Mr. Nolin, of Sault Ste. Marie).

Page 193: "authoritive" changed to "authoritative" (adding
in an authoritative voice).

Page 197: "eat" changed to "ate" (took up the grass braid
and ate it).

Page 200: "INTERPRTER" changed to "INTERPRETER" (TO THE
INTERPRETER).

Page 201: "groupe" changed to "group" (Philology brings
into one group).

Page 203: "geograghical" changed to "geographical" (these
tribes in their geographical position).

Page 212: "atlar" changed to "altar" (to violating the
altar).

Page 214: "Chesapeak" changed to "Chesapeake" (lying on
the eastern shores of Chesapeake bay.)

Page 219: "recal" changed to "recall" (from the race whose
memory they recall).

Page 225: "raphsodies" changed to "rhapsodies" (to these
bold and unfettered rhapsodies).

Page 233: duplicate "of" deleted (and modes of life).

Page 234: "groupes" changed to "groups" (and the adjacent
groups of islands).

Page 234: incomplete sentence in original (a popular
corruption, in the north-west, of Athabasca, which see.)

Page 234: "erea" changed to "era" (in the present era of
the United States).

Page 235: "lauguage" changed to "language" (their language
as observed by).

Page 240: "alcadia" changed to "alcaldia" (of the alcaldia
mayor of Nexapa).

Page 248: "Massachusets" changed to "Massachusetts" (and
in part in Springfield, Massachusetts.)

Page 250: "Mechilimackinac" changed to "Michilimackinac"
(Chippewa chief of Point St. Ignace, Michilimackinac).

Page 252: "Lousiana" changed to "Louisiana" (during their
residence in Louisiana.)

Page 254: "molodious" changed to "melodious" (They have
melodious soft voices).

Page 258: "Janerio" changed to "Janeiro" (the woods and
mountains south of Rio Janerio.)

Page 265: "Apallachians" changed to "Appalachians"
(Appalachians; a nation of Indians who formerly).

Page 265: "Apallachian" changed to "Appalachian" (the
leading range of the Appalachian mountains.)

Page 265: "Apallachians" changed to "Appalachians" (the
northern groups of the West Indies, to the Appalachians).

Page 267: "Shoisk" changed to "Shoiskw" in the table for
consistency.

Page 271: duplicate sentence deleted (Minwäwa, a pleasant
sound.)

Page 275: "preceeded" changed to "preceded" (a negative
form when it is preceded by the adverb.)

Page 281: "synonomous" changed to "synonymous" (used as
synonymous with person.)

Page 282: "Posessive" changed to "Possessive" (B:
Possessive inflection.)

Page 286 and 287 appear to have been reversed in the
original. The pages have been switched, but the beginning
of page 288 does not correspond to the preceding text.

Page 288: "Louisaina" changed to "Louisiana" (in upper
Louisiana).

Page 288: "seige" changed to "siege" (after a siege, Aug.
13, 1521.)

Page 299: "acurate" changed to "accurate" (a subject of
accurate investigation).

Page 300: the last sentence on the page is incomplete in
the original.

Page 303: "ryhme" changed to "rhyme" (have neither rhyme
nor metre).

Page 307: "succesful" changed to "successful" (the warrior
who should be successful).

Page 313: "charcter" changed to "character" (of a highly
favorable character).

Page 317: "fron" changed to "from" (attracted much
attention from observing).

Page 319: "arrrived" changed to "arrived" (had first
arrived in the lakes.)

Page 326: "languages" changed to "language" (speaking a
different type of language).

Page 331: "maratime" changed to "maritime" (to share in
the maritime enterprise).

Page 343: "retured" changed to "returned" (and then
returned to the boats).

Page 352: "esents" changed to "presents" (and distributing
small presents).

Page 377: there is a typo in regard to the annual interest
paid as stated in the original. The amount is left as
printed in the original.

Page 377: "Michilimachinac" changed to "Michilimackinac"
(west of the straits of Michilimackinac).

Page 386: incomplete sentence in original (in
juxtaposition in their new).

Page 386: "Delewares" changed to "Delawares" (with the
example of the Delawares).

Page 388: "disscusions" changed to "discussions" (their
civil discussions must tend to show).

Page 402: "Febuary" changed to "February" (In the month of
February).

Page 415: The two footnotes referenced in the Death Song
on this page are missing in the original.

Page 426: "possesion" changed to "possession" (regaining
possession of the fort).

Page 434: "snos" changed to "sons" (his two sons).

Page 441: "lilly" changed to "lily" (of the rush and the
water lily.)

Page 451: "Michilinackinac" changed to "Michilimackinac"
(who had been lately at Michilimackinac).

Page 460: "insence" changed to "incense" (after remaining
coiled, and receiving incense).

Page 463: "inabitants" changed to "inhabitants" (to secure
the inhabitants from the attack).

Page 477: Original is missing the footnote referenced in
the text.

Page 479: "villanous" changed to "villianous" (in that
villianous and execrable practice).

Page 481: "Apalachian" changed to "Appalachian" (at a spot
near the Appalachian mountains).

Page 483: "have" changed to "gave" (These prisoners gave
us some shocking accounts).

Page 484: "moccasons" changed to "moccasins" (and a pair
of moccasins).

Page 495: "Archepelago" changed to "Archipelago" (called
the northern Archipelago.)