THE STRONGHOLD OF THE NATCHEZ
We were hopelessly prisoners. On my part further struggle had become
impossible, nor elsewhere did any effort last long, although Cairnes
had to be knocked insensible before the heathen finally mastered him.
I believed the obstinate fellow dead, so ghastly white appeared his
usually florid face as the victorious savages dragged him roughly past
where I lay, flinging his heavy body down like carrion upon the rocks.
De Noyan appeared badly cut, his gallant clothing clinging to him in
fluttering rags, silent witnesses to the manliness of his struggle.
Yet the Chevalier was far from done.
"Let me sit up, you villains!" he cried, vigorously kicking at a
passing shin. "'T is not my custom to lie with head so low. Ah,
Benteen," he smiled pleasantly across at me, his eyes kindling at the
recollection, "that was the noblest fighting that ever came my way, yet
'tis likely we shall pay well for our fun. _Sacre_! 't is no pleasant
face, that of their grim war-chief, nor one to inspire a man with hope
as he makes plea for mercy."
"Marry, no," I replied, determined on exhibiting no greater outward
concern than he. "Nor will the ugly clip on his shoulder leave his
humor happier."
The Chevalier's eyes danced at the recollection.
"'T was our preacher friend who sheared him. I hold it a
master-stroke; but for a spear-butt on the way it would have cleft the
fellow into two equal parts. Have you seen aught of Eloise since the
fight?"
"She lies yonder against the wall at my left, and remains unhurt, I
think. I will make effort to turn over, and have speech with her."
So securely had I been bound with coarse grass rope, I found it no
small task to change the position of my body sufficiently to peer about
the corner of intervening rock, and clearly perceive my lady. She was
reclining in a half sitting posture well within the darker shadow,
bound as were the rest of us.
"You remain uninjured, I trust, Madame?" I asked gently, and it
heartened me to observe the smile with which she instantly glanced up
at sound of my voice.
"No blow has touched me," was her immediate response, "yet I suffer
noticing the stains of blood disfiguring both you and my husband. Are
the wounds serious ones?"
"Nay, mere scratches of the flesh, to heal in a week. Why did you
waste your last shot on that savage who would have struck me? It was
not the will of De Noyan that it be expended thus."
"You must have formed a poor conception of me, Geoffrey Benteen," she
answered, as if my words pained her, "if you suppose I value my life
more highly than your own. But for my solicitation you would never
have been in such stress, and, whatever else may be true, Eloise de
Noyan is not one accustomed to deserting her friends."
"Yet there are fates possible to a woman more to be dreaded than death."
"Ay, and frontier bred, I know it well, yet none so bad as would have
been the knowledge that I was guilty of ingratitude. My life, my
honor, are in the care of God, Geoffrey, and if I remain grateful for
aught this day, it is that my shot proved timely, saving you from that
blow. Tell me, was it not a woman at whose command the combat ceased?"
"It was; a white woman at that, unless my eyes deceived me. She stood
on yonder point of rock, appearing a veritable queen in the sunshine."
"So I thought, a fair face enough, yet not devoid of savage cruelty.
Her presence brings me some rays of hope, making me feel I may have
less to fear in the future than you. If a woman, however debased and
barbarous, rules these savages, she will not be altogether without
heart to the supplications of a woman."
I felt less assured of this, yet it was better she be buoyed up by all
possible hope, so ventured upon no answer. There was that in the
Queen's face as she gazed down upon us that made me doubt her
womanliness; doubt if behind that countenance of wild beauty there did
not lurk a soul as savage and untamed as any among her barbarous
followers. What but a spirit of insatiate cruelty could animate and
control such fierce warriors in their battle rage? Thinking of this,
my eyes on Madame, a movement occurred among our captors quickly
challenging my attention. Fresh shouts and cries evidenced new
arrivals. These came swarming down the ravine, and in another moment
began crawling noisily about us, chattering with our surly captors, or
scowling into our faces with savage eyes boding no good. It would be
unjust were I to write that these fellows were a brutal lot, as such
words would be void of that truth I seek to convey. I lived to learn
that many among them had the stuff of which true men are made; yet,
nevertheless, they were savages, scarcely touched by the virtues or
vices of civilization, a people nursing within their memory a great
wrong, and inflamed by the fierce passions of battle. Gazing about on
the stiffening forms of their stricken warriors, all alike exhibited in
eyes and gestures how eagerly they longed for the hour of vengeance,
when implacable hate might have full vent in the unutterable agony of
their victims. I gazed up into their scowling, distorted faces,
imagining a final moment of reckoning was at hand; yet some authority,
either of chief or tribal custom, restrained their pitiless hatred,
reserving us for longer, more intense suffering.
But the wild thirst for blood was mirrored in those fierce eyes glaring
down into mine, and echoed in the shrill cries with which they marked
us yet alive for their barbaric ingenuity to practise upon at leisure.
Even as I observed this, realizing from my knowledge of Indian nature
that our ultimate fate would be infinitely worse than merciful death in
battle, I could not remain blind to the wide difference between these
naked warriors and those other savages with whom my wandering border
life had made me familiar. My awakened memory dwelt upon the peculiar
tribal characteristics of the Mingoes north of the Ohio, the Kaskaskias
in the Illinois country, the Shawnees, the Cherokees, even the Creeks,
in whose villages I had dwelt as a friend, and beside whose young men I
had hunted as a brother. Yet here was surely a distinct race, one less
clearly marked with those features peculiarly Indian,--the cheek-bones
not prominent, the form of nose more varied, the skin decidedly
lighter, the heads better shapen, and the figures more thoroughly
developed. More, their language had little of the guttural so
universal among Eastern tribes, but had a peculiar, sharp, hissing
sound; so, although the faces peering into mine were wild and ferocious
enough to leave no doubt as to their barbarous nature, or our probable
fate, yet these peculiarities, with the total absence of paint, such as
disfigures and renders grotesquely hideous other Indians upon the
war-path, were sufficient to stamp these savages as members of a
distinct race.
"Natchez?" I ventured to inquire of the burly brute who stood over me
grasping spear and war-club.
"_Sa_," he grinned savagely. "_Français, Français_."
I shook my head and tried him again, but soon desisted on discovering
that these two words marked the full extent of our common language, and
so was obliged to be content with silently contemplating the crowds of
curious, naked heathen swarming on the hill.
Fortunately, it was not long we were doomed to wait, uncomfortably
trussed with our ropes of plaited grass. The old chief who had led the
assault gave his order, and, in immediate obedience, we were roughly
dragged forth, the bonds about our lower limbs severed, and, under
zealous guards, despatched up the canyon, the entire party promptly
falling in at the rear, bearing with them their wounded and dead. De
Noyan and I, thus released from our cramped, painful position on the
rocks, were jerked rudely upon our feet, and, in obedience to
threatening gestures, driven rapidly forward like dumb beasts; but
Madame and the Puritan, the latter not yet having regained
consciousness, were swung aloft in hammocks of coarsely woven cloth,
and thus borne upon the shoulders of four stout carriers. In this way
we advanced northward, not moving as slowly as I desired, for I was
sore and aching from head to foot, besides being weakened by loss of
blood. Yet there was no hope of escape, no evidence of mercy. If we
ventured to lag, the vigilant guard promptly quickened our movements by
the vigorous application of spear-points, so we soon learned the
necessity of keeping fully abreast of our assigned position in the
column.
Coming nearer to that great cataract which had effectually dammed our
progress up the valley, the leaders swerved toward the left, passing so
closely beside the leaping, foaming flood as to be enveloped in the
spray as if in a cloud of mist. Almost beneath the fall, the water
crashing on the rocks within reach of an outstretched hand, we
commenced a toilsome climb, along a deep, rocky gully completely
shrouded by overhanging bushes, as if we traversed a tunnel dug by the
hands of men. Indeed, I have little doubt that this peculiar
passageway had been constructed by artificial means. Every now and
then, when a faint light from without straggled through the interlaced
boughs overhead, I caught a glimpse of the evidences of human labor.
This odd passage, crooked and intricate, at times so steep as to
require the chiselling of steps in the solid rock, wound in and out
along the side of the cliff, then ran back into the very face of the
precipice, for more than a hundred and fifty yards. Suddenly we
emerged, fifty yards back from the crest, in the heart of a great
circular hole resembling the crater of a burned-out volcano, having
great ragged points of rock, blackened as if incased with lava, jutting
up upon every side, and forming as desolate and barren a picture as
ever eyes looked upon.
I was completely fagged by this time, the climb being a heavy one, and
I noticed De Noyan was ghastly of face, his body trembling like that of
a palsied man. But our relentless drivers permitted no halting to
recruit strength. The Chevalier was evidently in greater distress than
I, so from pity I bade him lean on my shoulder; but as he sought to
draw near, the merciless brute on guard struck him savagely, and there
was such shaking of spears and fierce uproar on the part of our escort,
we could do naught else than set our teeth to it, and go staggering on.
The slight path, if it might be named a path, led in and out among the
black lava cones in such labyrinthine fashion that no man could hope to
retain memory of its course, while the floor being of irregular stone,
the passing feet left no trail for future guidance. We travelled
blindly, and reckless through suffering and exhaustion, some distance,
until, perhaps a mile above the spot where we had surmounted the cliff,
a sudden twist was made to the right, our company creeping on all fours
through a narrow opening, having a great tree-trunk on one side and a
huge black bowlder on the other. We came forth high in air above the
swift, deep water, footing the insecure bark of a rude tree-bridge
spanning the current. Once safe on the other bank, our path merely a
narrow shelf of stone, we wormed around a sharp projection of the
cliff, rising to even greater height than in the gorge below. A dense
mass of interlaced and overshadowing cedars was partially pressed
aside, partially crawled under, and from this we finally emerged into
an open space, containing, I imagine, not far from five hundred acres
of land, having vast towering precipices of black frowning rock on
every side, with no outlet apparent, save to one blessed with wings.
Saint Andrew! 'twas an awesome place, yet oddly beautiful, so soft and
green below, with those massive walls completely shutting out all the
rest of the world, and shadowing the little valley with impregnable
grandeur.
I had but a moment in which to view the impressive scene. Scarcely had
the head of our column entered this natural prison when it was greeted
with wild shouts of triumph, immediately succeeded by shrieks of
distress, while there streamed forward to meet us a tumultuous band of
savages, a large proportion of whom were women and children. The
children were absolutely nude and peculiarly white of skin, while the
former wore rude skirts of coarsely woven cloth fastened about the
waist, their long hair in many instances trailing upon the ground,
yielding them a wildness of aspect beyond description; yet withal they
were not uncomely of features. These newcomers thronged about us with
scowling faces, and, when sternly forced back by the lowered weapons of
the guard, either joined the procession, or else trooped alongside,
yelling and jeering.
Pressed forward, although by now so utterly spent I could barely
stagger rapidly enough to escape those pitiless thrusts, I mechanically
noted enough of our surroundings to understand that we traversed ground
which had been cultivated; that low fences, here and there encountered,
divided the land into small sections, even as in more civilized regions
farmers protect their fields. What their crops may have been I could
not determine, the season of harvest being already past, yet I
distinguished what I supposed must be evidences of garden culture,
observing also a considerable ditch, certainly four feet in width,
filled with clear running water, which seemed to encircle the entire
basin, the deeper green of vegetation marking its course close up
against the farther rock wall.
The view directly in advance was at first obscured by the leaping
figures of the exultant savages leading the way, whooping with
excitement, and wildly brandishing their war-clubs. These at length
fell back along either side, our guards hurrying us across the ditch,
spanned by the great trunk of a tree, and thus on into the village.
This town resembled no other encampment of savages on which my eyes had
ever looked. I saw a wide open space, a blackened stake set in the
middle of it, the ground bare of vegetation, and tramped hard as if by
countless feet. Beyond, circling this plaza upon two sides, were
several rows of houses, all facing the same direction. It reminded me
of pictures I had seen of Hebrew camps in my father's great Bible, only
the houses were built of sun-dried clay, such as peons use in the far
Southwest on the Brazos, square in shape, of but a single story, having
dome-shaped roofs, heavily thatched with cane. They were windowless,
with one narrow opening for a door, protected by a heavy matting of
grass. Behind these, perhaps a hundred yards or more, and within a
short distance of the steep cliffs bounding the upper extremity of the
valley, there arose from the surface of the plain two immense rounded
mounds of earth, each fully a hundred paces wide at its base, sloping
sharply upward. Considerable vacant space lay between the two, while
on the apex of each stood buildings of sun-baked clay, resembling in
form those below, yet much larger, and, because of their elevation,
appearing spacious and imposing. Above one were posed three rudely
carven figures bearing a slight resemblance to giant eagles, their
wings outspread as if for flight. The other was surmounted by a
hideous, grotesque figure, blackened as by fire, with distorted face
daubed a glaring yellow, and long hair glittering from red pigment.
Here the grass curtain had been drawn aside, while before the entrance,
their faces striped with disfiguring black lines, their dull vestments
trailing to the ground and gaudily trimmed with fanciful trappings,
their coarse hair so trained as to stand almost erect, were two aged
men, who, with wild gesticulations, and solemn chanting, were
apparently paying adoration to the setting sun, the last beams
streaming over them through a rift in the western wall.
Directly past these priests we were driven like cattle, finding
ourselves plunged into a vast square gloomy apartment, having an
earthen floor, but utterly devoid of either furnishings or ornament.
There was another mat-draped opening at the farther side, and in the
centre a huge log smouldered, resting upon what bore the appearance of
a rudely chipped altar of rock. About this were ranged numerous
fancifully painted statues of wood, grotesque and hideous, while a
third figure, attired as were the aged priests without, lay prone upon
the earth moaning as if in agony. The walls were hung thickly with
undressed skins of wild animals, and at the back stood a slightly
upraised platform of logs, cut in halves by a narrow passageway leading
toward the second curtained door. It was in the midst of this we
halted, still under strict surveillance of our brutal guards. These,
however, permitted us to sink down exhausted on the hard floor.