“Fear not, till Birnam Wood
Shall come to Dunsinane.”
_Macbeth_.
I cannot say I was quite satisfied with the manner of Susquesus; nor, on
the other hand, was I absolutely uneasy. All might be well; and, if it were
not, the power of this man to injure us could not be very great. A new
occurrence, however, raised very unpleasant doubts of his honesty. Jumper
being out on a hunt, the Onondago was sent across to Ravensnest the next
trip, out of his turn; but, instead of returning, as had been the practice
of both, the next day, we saw no more of him for near a fortnight. As
we talked over this sudden and unexpected disappearance, we came to the
conclusion, that, perceiving he was distrusted, the fellow had deserted,
and would be seen no more. During his absence, we paid a visit to
Ravensnest ourselves, spending two or three happy days with the girls,
whom we found delighted with the wildness of their abode, and as happy as
innocence, health, and ceaseless interest in the forest and its habits,
could make them. Herman Mordaunt, having fortified his house sufficiently,
as he fancied, to remove all danger of an assault, returned with us to
Mooseridge, and passed two or three days in walking over and examining
the quality of the land, together with the advantages offered by the
water-courses. As for Mr. Worden and Jason, the former had gone to join the
army, craving the flesh-pots of a regimental mess, in preference to the
simple fare of the woods; while Jason had driven a hard bargain with Herman
Mordaunt for the possession of the mill-seat; which had been the subject of
frequent discussions between the parties, and about which the pedagogue had
deemed it prudent to draw on the wisdom of Mother Doortje. As the reader
may have some curiosity to know how such things were conducted in the
colony, in the year 1758, I will recapitulate the terms of the bargain that
was finally agreed on, signed and sealed.
Herman Mordaunt expected no emolument to himself, from Ravensnest, but
looked forward solely to a provision for posterity. In consequence of these
views, he refused to sell, but gave leases on such conditions as would
induce tenants to come into his terms, in a country in which land was far
plentier than men. For some reason, that never was very clear to me, he was
particularly anxious to secure Jason Newcome, and no tolerable terms seemed
extravagant to effect his purpose. It is not surprising, therefore,
that our miller in perspective got much the best of the bargain, as its
conditions will show.
The lease was for three lives, and twenty-one years afterwards. This would
have been thought equal to a lease for forty-two years, in that day, in
Europe; but experience is showing that it is, in truth, for a much longer
period, in America. [35] The first ten years, no rent at all was to be
paid. For the next ten, the land, five hundred acres, was to pay sixpence
currency an acre, the tenant having the right to cut timber at pleasure.
This was a great concession, as the mill-lot contained much pine. For the
remainder of the lease, be it longer or shorter, a shilling an acre, or
about sixpence sterling, was to be paid for the land, and forty pounds
currency, or one hundred dollars a year, for the mill-seat. The mills to be
taken by the landlord, at an appraisal 'made by men', at the expiration of
the lease; the tenant to pay the taxes. The tenant had the privilege of
using all the materials for his dams, buildings, &c., he could find on the
land.
The policy of the owners of Mooseridge was different. We intended to sell
at low prices, at first, reserving for leases hereafter, such farms as
could not be immediately disposed of, or for which the purchaser failed to
pay. In this manner it was thought we should sooner get returns for our
outlays, and sooner 'build up a settlement,' as the phrase goes. In
America, the reader should know, everything is 'built.' The priest 'builds
up' a flock; the speculator, a fortune; the lawyer, a reputation; and the
landlord, a settlement; sometimes, with sufficient accuracy in language, he
even builds a town.
Jason was a very happy man, the moment he got his lease, signed and sealed,
in his own possession. It made him a sort of a land-holder on the spot, and
one who had nothing to pay for ten years to come. God forgive me, if I
do the man injustice; but, from the first, I had a suspicion that Jason
trusted to fortune to prevent any pay-day from ever coming at all. As for
Herman Mordaunt, he seemed satisfied, for he fancied that he had got a
man of some education on his property, who might answer a good purpose in
civilizing, and in otherwise advancing the interests of his estate.
Just as the rays of the rising sun streamed through the crevices of our log
tenement, and ere one of us three idlers had risen from his pallet, I heard
a moccasined foot moving near me, in the nearly noiseless tread of an
Indian. Springing to my feet, I found myself face to face with the missing
Onondago!
“You here, Susquesus!” I exclaimed; “we supposed you had abandoned us. What
has brought you back?”
“Time to go, now,” answered the Indian, quietly. “Yengeese and Canada
warrior soon fight.”
“Is this true!--And do you, _can_ you know it to be true! Where have you
been this fortnight past?”
“Been see--have see--know him just so. Come--call young men; go on
war-path.”
Here, then, was an explanation of the mystery of the Onondago's absence! He
had heard us speak of an intention of moving with the troops, at the
last moment, and he had gone to reconnoitre, in order that we might have
seasonable notice when it would be necessary to quit the 'Ridge,' as we
familiarly termed the Patent. I saw nothing treasonable in this, but rather
deemed it a sign of friendly interest in our concerns; though it was
certainly 'running' much farther than the Indian had been directed to
proceed, and 'running' a little off the track. One might overlook such an
irregularity in a savage, however, more especially as I began to weary of
the monotony of our present manner of living, and was not sorry to discover
a plausible apology for a change.
The reader may be certain, it was not long before I had communicated the
intelligence brought by the Trackless, to my companions; who received it as
young men would be; apt to listen to tidings so stirring. The Onondago was
summoned to our council, and he renewed his protestation that it was time
for us to be moving.
“No stop”--he answered, when questioned again on the subject; “time go.
Canoe ready--gun loaded--warrior counted--chief woke up--council fire gone
out. Time, go.”
“Well then, Corny,” said Guert, rising and stretching his fine frame like a
lion roused from his lair, “here's off. We can go to Ravensnest to sleep,
to-day; and, to-morrow we will work our way out into the highway, and fall
into the line of march of the army. I shall have another opportunity of
seeing Mary Wallace, and of telling her how much I love her. That will be
so much gained, at all events.”
“No see squaw--no go to Nest!” said the Indian, with energy. “War-path
_this_ way,” pointing in a direction that might have varied a quarter of a
circle from that to Herman Mordaunt's settlement. “Bad for warrior to see
squaw when he dig up hatchet--only make woman of him. No; go this way--path
there--no here--scalp there--squaw here.”
As the gestures of the Onondago were quite as significant as his language,
we had no difficulty in understanding him. Guert continued his questions,
however, while dressing, and we all soon became convinced, by the words of
the Indian, broken and abrupt as they were, that Abercrombie was on the
point of embarking with his army on Lake George, and that we must needs
be active, if we intended to be present at the contemplated operations in
front of Ticonderoga.
Our decision was soon reached, and our preparations made. By packing and
shouldering his knapsack, and arming himself, each man would be ready;
though a short delay grew out of the absence of Traverse and his
chain-bearers. We wrote a letter, however, explaining the reason of our
intended absence, promising to return as soon as the operations in front of
Ty should be terminated. This letter we left with Pete, who was to remain
as cook, though Jaap bestirred himself, loaded his broad shoulders with
certain indispensables for our march, took his rifle, pack and horn and
was ready to move as soon as any of us. All this the fellow did, moreover,
without orders; deeming it a part of his duty to follow his young master,
even if he followed him to evil. No dog, indeed, could be truer, in this
particular, than Jaap or Jacob Satanstoe, for he had adopted the name of
the Neck as his patronymic; much as the nobles of other regions style
themselves after _their_ lands.
When all was ready, and we were on the point of quitting the hut, the
question arose seriously, whether we were to go by Ravensnest, or by the
new route that the Onondago had mentioned. Path there was not, in either
direction; but, we had land-marks, springs, and other known signs, on the
former; while of the latter we literally knew nothing. Then Anneke and
Mary Wallace, with their bright, blooming, sunny faces--bright and
happy whenever we appeared, most certainly, of late--were in the former
direction, and even Dirck cried out 'for Ravensnest.' But, on that route
the Onondago refused to stir one foot. He stood, resembling a finger-post,
pointing north-westerly with an immovable obstinacy, that threatened to
bring the order of our march into some confusion.
“We know nothing of that route, Trackless,” Guert observed, or rather
replied, for the Indian's manner was so expressive as to amount to a
remark, “and we would rather travel a road with which we are a little
acquainted. Besides, we wish to pay our parting compliments to the ladies.”
“Squaw no good, now--war-path no go to squaw. Huron--French warrior, here.”
“Ay, and they are there, too. We shall be on their heels soon enough, by
going to Ravensnest.”
“No soon 'nough--can't do him. Path long, time short. Pale-face warrior in
great hurry.”
“Pale-face warriors' friends are in a hurry, too--so you will do well to
follow us, as we do not intend to follow you. Come, gentlemen, we will lead
the Indian, as the Indian does not seem disposed to lead us. After a mile
or two he will think it more honourable to go in advance; and, for that
distance, I believe, I can show you the way.”
“That road good for young men who don't want see enemy!” said Susquesus,
with ironical point.
“By St. Nicholas! Indian, what do you mean?” cried Guert, turning short on
his heels and moving swiftly towards the Onondago, who did not wait for
the menacing blow, but wheeled in his tracks and led off, at a quick pace,
directly towards the north-west.
I do believe that Guert pursued, for the first minute, with no other
intention than that of laying his powerful arm on the offender's shoulder;
but I dropped in on his footsteps so soon, Dirck following me, and Jaap
Dirck, that we were all moving off Indian file, or in the fashion of the
woods, at the rate of four miles in the hour, almost before we knew it. An
impulse of that angry nature is not over in a minute, and, before either of
us had sufficiently cooled to be entirely reasonable, the whole party was
fairly out of sight of the hut. After that no one appeared to think of the
necessity or of the expediency of reverting to the original intention. It
was certainly indiscreet, thus to confide absolutely in the good faith of a
savage, or a semi-savage, at least, whom we scarcely knew, and whom we had
actually distrusted; but we did it, and precisely in the manner and
under the feelings I have described. I know that we all thought of the
indiscretion of which we had been guilty, after the first mile; but each
was too proud to make the other acquainted with his misgivings. I say all,
but Jaap ought to be excepted, for nothing in the shape of danger ever gave
that negro any concern, unless it was spooks. He _was_ afraid of 'spooks,'
but he did not fear man.
Susquesus manifested the same confidence in his knowledge of the woods,
while now leading the way, league after league through the dark forest,
as he had done when he took us to the oak with the broken top. On this
occasion, he guided us more by the sun, and the course generally, than by
any acquaintance with objects that we passed; though, three times that day
did he point out to us particular things that he had before seen, while
traversing the woods in directions that crossed, at angles more or less
oblique, the line of our present route. As for us, it was like a sailor's
pointing to a path on the trackless ocean. We had our pocket-compasses, it
is true, and understood well enough that a north-west course would bring us
out somewhere near the foot of Lake George; but I much doubt if we could
have made, by any means, as direct a line, by their aid, as we did by that
of the Indian.
On this subject we had a discussion among ourselves, I well remember, when
we halted to eat and rest, a little after the turn of the day. For five
hours had we walked with great rapidity, much as the bird flies, so far as
course was concerned, never turning aside, unless it might be to avoid some
impassable obstacle; and our calculation was that we had made quite twenty,
of the forty miles we had to go over, according to the Onondago's account
of the probable length of our journey. We had strung our sinews and
hardened our muscles in such a way as to place us above the influence of
common fatigue; yet, it must be confessed, the Indian was much the freshest
of the five, when we reached the spring where we dined.
“An Indian does seem to have a nose much like that of a hound,” said Guert,
as our appetites began to be appeased; “_that_ must be admitted. Yet I
think, Corny, a compass would carry a man through the woods with more
certainty than any signs on the bark of trees, or looks at the sun.”
“A compass cannot err, of course; but it would be a troublesome thing to be
stopping every minute or two, to look at your compass, which must have time
to become steady, you will remember, or it would become a guide that is
worse than none.”
“Every minute or two! Say once in an hour, or once in half an hour, at
most. I would engage to travel as straight as the best Indian of them all,
by looking at my compass once in half an hour.”
Susquesus was seated near enough to us three to over hear our conversation,
and he understood English perfectly, though he spoke it in the usual,
clipped manner of an Indian. I thought I could detect a covert gleam of
contempt in his dark countenance, at this boast of Guert's; but he made no
remark. We finished our meal, rested our legs; and, when our watches told
us it was one o'clock, we rose in a body to resume our march. We were
renewing the priming of our rifles, a precaution each man took twice every
day, to prevent the effects of the damps of the woods, when the Onondago
quietly fell in behind Guert, patiently waiting the leisure of the latter.
“We are all ready, Trackless,” cried the Albanian “give us the lead and the
step, as before.”
“No”--answered the Indian. “Compass lead, now Susquesus no see any
longer,--blind as young dog.”
“Oh! that is your game, is it! Well, let it be so. Now, Corny, you shall
learn the virtue there is in a compass.”
Hereupon Guert drew his compass from a pocket in his hunting-shirt, placed
it on a log, in order to get a perfectly accurate start, and waited until
the quivering needle had become perfectly stationary. Then he made his
observation, and took a large hemlock, which stood at the distance of some
twenty rods, a great distance for a sight in the forest, as his land-mark,
gave a shout, caught up his compass, and led off. We followed, of course,
and soon reached the tree. As Guert now fancied he was well entered on the
right course, he disdained to turn to renew his observation, but called out
for us to 'come on;' as he had a new tree for his guide, and that in the
true direction. We may have proceeded in this manner for half a mile, and I
began to think that Guert was about to triumph--for, to me, it did really
seem that our course was as straight as it had been at any time that day.
Guert now began to brag of his success, talking _to_ me, and _at_ the
Indian, who was between us over his shoulder.
“You see, Corny,” he said, “I am used to the bush, after all, and have
often been up among the Mohawks, and on their hunts. The great point is to
begin right; after which you can have no great trouble. Make certain of the
first ten rods, and you can be at ease about the ten thousand that are to
follow. So it is with life, Corny, boy; begin right, and a young man is
pretty certain of coming out right. I made a mistake at the start, and you
see the trouble it has given me. But, I was left an orphan, Littlepage, at
ten years of age; and the boy that has neither father nor money, must be
an uncommon boy not to kick himself out of the traces before he is twenty.
Well, Onondago, what do you say to following the compass, now!”
“Best look at him--he tell,” answered Susquesus, our whole line halting to
let Guert comply.
“This d----d compass will never come round!” exclaimed Guert, shaking the
little instrument in order to help the needle round to the point at which
he wished to see it stand. “These little devils are very apt to get out of
order, Corny after all.”
“Try more--got three”--said the Indian, holding up the number of fingers he
mentioned, as was his wont, when mentioning numbers of any sort.
On this hint Dirck and I drew out our compasses, and the three were placed
on a log, at the side of which we had come to our halt. The result showed
that the three 'little devils' agreed most accurately, and that we were
marching exactly south-east, instead of north-west! Guert looked, on
that occasion, very much as he did when he rose from the snow, after the
hand-sled had upset with us. There was no resisting the truth; we had got
turned completely round, without knowing it. The fact that the sun was so
near the zenith, probably contributed to our mistake; but, any one who has
tried the experiment, will soon ascertain how easy it is for him to lose
his direction, beneath the obscurity and amid the inequalities of a virgin
forest. Guert gave it up, like a man as he was, and the Indian again passed
in front, without the slightest manifestation of triumph or discontent. It
required nothing less than a thunderbolt to disturb the composure of that
Onondago!
From that moment our progress was as swift as it had been previously to
the halt; while our course was seemingly as unerring as the flight of the
pigeon. Susquesus did not steer exactly north-west, as before, however, but
he inclined more northerly. At length, it was just as the sun approached
the summits of the western mountains, an opening appeared in our front,
beneath the arches of the woods, and we knew that a lake was near us, and
that we were on the summit of high land, though at what precise elevation
could not yet be told. Our route had lain across hills, and through
valleys, and along small streams; though, as I afterwards ascertained, the
Hudson did not run far enough north to intercept our march; or rather, by
a sudden turn to the west, it left our course clear. Had we inclined
westwardly ourselves, we might have almost done that which Col. Follock had
once laughingly recommended to my mother, in order to avoid the dangers of
the Powles Hook Ferry, gone round the river.
A clearing now showed itself a little on our right; and thither the Indian
held his way. This clearing was not the result of the labours of man, but
was the fruit of one of those forest accidents that sometimes let in the
light of the sun upon the mysteries of the woods. This clearing was on the
bald cap of a rocky mountain, where Indians had doubtless often encamped;
the vestiges of their fires proving that the winds had been assisted by the
sister element, in clearing away the few stunted trees that had once grown
in the fissures of the rocks. As it was, there might have been an open
space of some two or three acres, that was now as naked as if it had never
known any vegetation more ambitious than the bush of the whortleberry or
the honeysuckle. Delicious water was spouting from a higher ridge of the
rocks, that led away northerly, forming the summit of an extensive range
in that direction. At this spring Susquesus stooped to drink; then he
announced that our day's work was done.
Until this announcement, I do not believe that one of us all had taken
the time to look about him, so earnest and rapid had been our march. Now,
however, each man threw aside his pack, laid down his rifle, and, thus
disencumbered, we turned to gaze on one of the most surprisingly beautiful
scenes eye of mine had ever beheld.
From what I have read and heard, I am now fully aware, that the grandest of
our American scenery falls far behind that which is to be found among the
lakes and precipices of the Alps, and along the almost miraculous coast
of the Mediterranean; and I shall not pretend that the view I now beheld
approached many, in magnificence, that are to be met with in those magic
regions. Nevertheless, it was both grand and soft; and it had one element
of vastness, in the green mantle of its interminable woods, that is not
often to be met with in countries that have long submitted to the sway of
man. Such as it was, I shall endeavour to describe it.
Beneath us, at the distance of near a thousand feet, lay a lake of the most
limpid and placid water, that was beautifully diversified in shape, by
means of bluffs, bays, and curvatures of the shores, and which had an
extent of near forty miles, We were on its eastern margin, and about
one-third of the distance from its southern to its northern end. Countless
islands lay almost under our feet, rendering the mixture of land and water,
at that particular point, as various and fanciful as the human imagination
could desire. To the north, the placid sheet extended a great distance,
bounded by rocky precipices, passing by a narrow gorge into a wider and
larger estuary beyond. To the south, the water lay expanded to its oval
termination, with here and there an island to relieve the surface. In that
direction only, were any of the results of human industry to be traced.
Everywhere else, the gorges, the receding valleys, the long ranges of
hills, and the bald caps of granite, presented nothing to the eye but the
unwearying charms of nature. Far as the eye could reach, mountain behind
mountain, the earth was covered with its green mantle of luxuriant leaves;
such as vegetation bestows on a virgin soil beneath a beneficent sun. The
rolling and variegated carpet of the earth resembled a firmament reversed,
with clouds composed of foliage.
At the southern termination of the lake, however, there was an opening in
the forest of considerable extent; and one that had been so thoroughly made
as to leave few or no trees. From this point we were distant several miles,
and that distance necessarily rendered objects indistinct; though we had
little difficulty in perceiving the ruins of extensive fortifications. A
thousand white specks, we now ascertained to be tents, for the works were
all that remained of Fort William Henry, and there lay encamped the army
of Abercrombie; much the largest force that had then ever collected in
America, under the colours of England. History has since informed us that
this army contained the formidable number of sixteen thousand men. Hundreds
of boats, large batteaux, that were capable of carrying forty or fifty men,
were moving about in front of the encampment, and, remote as we were, it
was not impossible to discover the signs of preparation, and of an early
movement. The Indian had not deceived us thus far, at least, but had shown
himself an intelligent judge of what was going on, as well as a faithful
guide.
We were to pass the night on the mountain. Our beds were none of the best,
as the reader may suppose, and our cover slight; yet I do not remember to
have opened my eyes from the moment they were closed, until I awoke in the
morning. The fatigue of a forced march did that for us which down cannot
obtain for the voluptuary, and we all slept as profoundly as children.
Consciousness returned to me, by means of a gentle shake of the shoulder,
which proceeded from Susquesus. On arising, I found the Indian still near
me, his countenance, for the first time since I had known him, expressing
something like an animated pleasure. He had awoke none of the others, and
he signed for me to follow him, without arousing either of my companions.
Why I had been thus particularly selected for the scene that succeeded,
I cannot say, unless the Onondago's native sagacity had taught him to
distinguish between the educations and feelings of us three young men. So
it was, however, and I left the rude shelter we had prepared for the night,
alone.
A glorious sight awaited me! The sun had just tipped the mountain-tops with
gold, while the lake and the valleys, the hill-sides even, and the entire
world beneath, still reposed in shadow. It appeared to me like the
awakening of created things from the sleep of nature. For a moment or more,
I could only gaze on the wonderful picture presented by the strong contrast
between the golden hill-tops and their shadowed sides--the promises of day
and the vestiges of night. But the Onondago was too much engrossed with his
own feelings, to suffer me long to disregard what he conceived to be the
principal point of interest. Directed by his finger, and eye, for he spoke
not, I turned my look towards the distant shore of William Henry, and at
once perceived the cause of his unusual excitement. As soon as the Indian
was certain that I saw the objects that attracted himself so strongly, he
exclaimed with a strong, guttural, emphatic cadence--
“Good!”
Abercrombie's army was actually in motion! Sixteen thousand men had
embarked in boats, and were moving towards the northern end of the lake,
with imposing force, and a most beautiful accuracy. The unruffled surface
of the lake was dotted with the flotilla, boats in hundreds stretching
across it in long, dark lines, moving on towards their point of destination
with the method and concert of an army with its wings displayed. The last
brigade of boats had just left the shore when I first saw this striking
spectacle, and the whole picture lay spread before me at a single glance.
America had never before witnessed such a sight; and it may be long before
she will again witness such another. For several minutes I stood entranced;
nor did I speak until the rays of the sun had penetrated the dusky light
that lay on the inferior world, as low as the bases of the western
mountains.
“What are we to do, Susquesus?” I then asked, feeling how much right the
Indian now might justly claim to govern our movements.
“Eat breakfast, first”--the Onondago quietly replied; “then go down
mountain.”
“Neither of which will place us in the midst of that gallant army, as it is
our wish to be.”
“See, bye'm by. Injin know--no hurry, now. Hurry come, when Frenchman
shoot.”
I did not like this speech, nor the manner in which it was uttered; but
there were too many things to think of, just then, to be long occupied by
vague conjectures touching the Onondago's evasive allusions. Guert and
Dirck were called, and made to share in the pleasure that such a sight
could not fail to communicate. Then it was I got the first notion of what I
should call the truly martial character of Ten Eyck. His fine, manly figure
appeared to me to enlarge, his countenance actually became illuminated, and
the expression of his eye, usually so full of good-nature and fun, seemed
to change its character entirely, to one of sternness and seventy.
“This is a noble sight, Mr. Littlepage,” Guert remarked, after gazing
at the measured but quick movement of the flotilla, for some time, in
silence--“a truly noble sight, and it is a reproach to us three for having
lost so much time in the woods, when we ought to have been _there_, ready
to aid in driving the French from the province.”
“We are not too late, my good friend, as the first blow yet remains to be
struck.”
“You say true, and I shall join that army, if I have to swim to reach the
boats. It will be no difficult thing for us to swim from one of these
islands to another, and the troops must pass through the midst of them, 'n
order to get into the lower lake. Any reasonable man would stop to pick us
up.”
“No need,” said the Onondago, in his quiet way. “Eat breakfast; then go.
Got canoe--that 'nough.”
“A canoe! By St. Nicholas! Mr. Susquesus, I'll tell you what it is--you
shall never want a friend as long as Guert Ten Eyek is living, and able to
assist you. That idea of the canoe is a most thoughtful one, and shows that
a reasoning man has had the care of us. We can now join the troops, with
the rifles in our hand, as becomes gentlemen and volunteers.”
By this time Jaap was up, and looking at the scene, with all his eyes. It
is scarcely necessary to describe the effect on a negro. He laughed in
fits, shook his head like the Chinese figure of a mandarin, rolled over on
the rocks, arose, shook himself like a dog that quits the water, laughed
again, and finally shouted. As we were all accustomed to these displays of
negro sensibility, they only excited a smile among us, and not even that
from Dirck. As for the Indian, he took no more notice of these natural, but
undignified signs of pleasure, in Jaap, than if the latter had been a dog,
or any other unintellectual animal. Perhaps no weakness would be so likely
to excite his contempt, as to be a witness of so complete an absence of
self-command, as the untutored negro manifested on this occasion.
As soon as our first curiosity and interest were a little abated, we
applied ourselves to the necessary duty of breaking our fasts. The meal was
soon despatched; and, to say the truth, it was not of a quality to detain
one long from anything of interest. The moment we had finished, the whole
party left the cap of the mountain, following our guide as usual.
The Onondago had purposely brought us to that look-out, a spot known to
him, in order that we might get the view of its panorama. It was impossible
to descend to the lake-shore at that spot, however, and we were obliged to
make a detour of three or four miles, in order to reach a ravine, by means
of which, and not without difficulty either, that important object was
obtained. Here we found a bark canoe of a size sufficient to hold all five
of us, and we embarked without a moment's delay.
The wind had sprung up from the south, as the day advanced, and the
flotilla of boats was coming on, at a greatly increased rate, as to speed.
By the time we had threaded our way through the islands, and reached the
main channel, if indeed any one passage could be so termed, among such a
variety, the leading boat of the army was within hail. The Indian paddled,
and, waving his hand in sign of amity, he soon brought us alongside of the
batteau. As we approached it, however, I observed the fine, large form
of the Viscount Howe, standing erect in its bows, dressed in his Light
Infantry Forest Uniform, as if eager to be literally the foremost man of
a movement, in the success of which, the honour of the British empire,
itself, was felt to be concerned.
[Footnote 35: It has been found that a three lives' lease, in the State of
New York, is equal to a term of more than thirty years.--EDITOR.]