Produced by Chris Curnow, Lindy Walsh, Dan Horwood and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
[Illustration: A STARTLING EXPERIENCE
The world seemed to turn over and slip from under him, his head struck
the gunwale smartly, and he gradually got a dim notion that he was
standing with his back against something hard, and his body at right
angles to that of the Indian in the bows.]
* * * * *
ADVENTURES
AMONG
THE RED INDIANS
Romantic Incidents and Perils
Amongst the Indians of
North and South America
by
H. W. G. HYRST
Author Of
"Adventures in the Great Forests,"
"Adventures in the Arctic Regions"
&c. &c.
With Sixteen Illustrations
LONDON
SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED
38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET
1911
* * * * *
UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
THE LIBRARY OF ADVENTURE
_Extra Crown 8vo. With many Illustrations. 5/- each_
"Delightful books of adventure, beautifully printed and tastefully got
up."--_Educational Times._
"Boy readers will find a kaleidoscope of brilliant and picturesque
scenes from all lands collected for their benefit."--_Spectator._
ADVENTURES ON THE HIGH MOUNTAINS
by RICHARD STEAD, B.A. F.R.HIST.SOC.
_With Sixteen Illustrations_
"Deeds of heroism and daring fill these lively pages."--_Globe_
ADVENTURES IN THE GREAT FORESTS
by H. W. G. HYRST
_With Sixteen Illustrations_
"The kind of book a healthy English boy will delight in."--_Country
Life_
ADVENTURES ON THE HIGH SEAS
by RICHARD STEAD
_With Sixteen Illustrations_
ADVENTURES IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS
by H. W. G. HYRST
_With Sixteen Illustrations_
ADVENTURES IN THE GREAT DESERTS
by H. W. G. HYRST
_With Sixteen Illustrations_
"As stirring as any story of fictitious adventure."--_Glasgow
Herald_
ADVENTURES ON THE GREAT RIVERS
by RICHARD STEAD
_With Sixteen Illustrations_
"Thrilling stories-plentifully illustrated."--_Globe_
ADVENTURES AMONG WILD BEASTS
by H. W. G. HYRST
_With Twenty-four Illustrations_
ADVENTURES AMONG THE RED INDIANS
by H. W. G. HYRST
_With Sixteen Illustrations_
SEELEY & COMPANY LIMITED
PREFACE
These pages describe the adventures of men whom duty or inclination
has brought into contact with the Indians of the entire American
continent; and, since every day sees the red race diminishing,
or abandoning the customs and mode of life once characteristic of
it, such adventures must necessarily relate mainly to a bygone
generation.
To-day the Indians form a bare sixtieth of the American population, a
falling off for which the colonist has been responsible both actively
and involuntarily. The history of the red man's relations to those who
ultimately were to be his rulers is a painful one; massacres and
cruelties on the one side led to reprisals of a similar nature on the
other. Happily the days of persecution and revolt are now ended; some
few of the natives have intermarried with whites and have adapted
themselves to the conditions of modern civilisation; others have
settled down to an inoffensive and gypsy-like life on reserves granted
by the white governments. Meanwhile the whole race--particularly in
the north--continues to diminish. It is not improbable that in the
days of Cortez and Pizarro the Indians were already a dying people;
and that collision with the white invaders only hastened their demise.
The result of this collision is melancholy, and the author of
"Westward Ho!" has put it all into a nutshell. "The mind of the
savage, crushed by the sight of the white man's superior skill, and
wealth, and wisdom, loses at first its self-respect, while his body,
pampered with easily-obtained luxuries, instead of having to win the
necessaries of life by heavy toil, loses its self-helpfulness; and
with self-respect and self-help vanish all the savage virtues."
Bishop Bompas, who spent his life among the Indians of the far
north, says, "the whole of the Tenni race seem to be of a sickly
habit, and are dwindling in numbers. They are not much addicted to
ardent spirits, nor are these now supplied to them, but they have
an inveterate propensity to gamble. Though almost wholly free from
crimes of violence, and not much inclined to thieve, yet heathen
habits still cling to them, and they exhibit the usual Indian
deficiency in a want of stability and firmness of character.... In
sickness the Indians are very pitiful. They soon lose heart, and seem
to die more fro despondency than disease. The constant removals are
trying to the weak and infirm, and in times of distress those who
cannot follow the band are left behind to perish.... The old women
employ themselves in twisting grass or roots or sinew into twine for
sewing or fishing-nets. The men and boys are often busied in shaping
bows, arrows, snowshoes, and sledges.... Their capacity for
civilisation is very limited; none become business men."
CONTENTS
page
CHAPTER I
CHEROKEE WARFARE
Indian insurgents and their rifles--The rising of 1793--March
of Lieutenants Lowry and Boyd--The Indian attack--Sergeant
Munson--Saving an officer's life--Walking into the battle
instead of out of it--The third Indian contingent--Munson
wounded--Prisoners--Taken through the forest--The camp on
Lake Erie--The chief's sentence--Slavery!--Plans for
flight--Munson's escape by water--The Cherokee canoemen 17
CHAPTER II
THE INVASION OF CORRIENTES
Southern Indians as soldiers--Andresito Artegas--The war of
1818-20--An awkward time for British residents--The panic
in Corrientes--The march of the Indian army--A magnanimous
chief--Mr. Postlethwaite--Hindrances to good fellowship--A
quaint vengeance--Schemes for flight--Andresito as a
guest--A Peruvian blackguard--Flight and pursuit--Running
for it--A ship in sight--The last struggle for liberty 32
CHAPTER III
A CAPTIVE AMONG ARGENTINE INDIANS
The Guaranian Family--A story of Don Pedro Campbell--Indians
in pursuit--Ascencion and her sister captured--Taken
to the _tolderia_--"The Cordoban soldiers are
coming!"--Escape of the Indians--The two girls made
slaves--Murder of a young Spaniard--An evening alarm--The
Macabis--The battle--Ascencion's sister killed--Another
flight--A strange ship in the river--The Portuguese
commander--Peter Campbell as rescuer--The Indians
subdued--Punishing a would-be assassin 44
CHAPTER IV
THE IROQUOIS OF THE CANADIAN BOUNDARY
The Iroquoian family--Surgeon Bigsby--Coasting on Lake
Ontario--A strange reception--Saluting "royalty"--Landing
in the Indian village--The chief's remarkable speech--The
excitement that a red tunic may cause--The old chief's
generosity--Further popularity for the doctor--The
chief's dinner-party--Farewell gifts--The next
halt--Troubles of a geologist--"Cesar Auguste"--An
unwelcome passenger--Getting rid of the half-breed 55
CHAPTER V
CREEK INDIANS AT PLAY
U.S. Government and Indians--Captain Basil Hall, R.N.--The
Creeks--A disappointment--The real Indians--A
well-timed visit--The local band--The eve of a great
festival--Dancing--Scarifying--The great day of the
year--The match-ground--Where are the players?--The
two teams--A discourteous commencement--Other
preliminaries--The ball-play begins--Some alterations
much needed--The end of the game 67
CHAPTER VI
WITH THE DELAWARES AND CREES
Sir George Head--Across Nova Scotia--Up the St. John
River--Indian salmon-spearing--A ducking for the
Major--A novel method of life-saving--The guides'
limit--A ferocious Cree--Engaging the new
guide--Irishwoman _versus_ Indian--The ride through
the pine-forest--Snow--Wolf-tracks--Provisions
short--The wolves' attack--Keeping the guide in
order--Trying to be wiser than an Indian--How to kill
wolves--The Indian camp--Dances 79
CHAPTER VII
AMONG THE FUEGIAN INDIANS
The Pesherahs of Tierra del Fuego--Admiral Fitzroy--Fuegians
as boat-thieves--Hostages--An experiment--Fitzroy's
second voyage--Met by the natives--Compliments and
curiosity--A puzzle--Indian vanity--Ashore
again--Hostile natives--"Yammerskooner"--An uncomfortable
plight for English sailors--A night among unpleasant
neighbours--Jemmy Button's meeting with his
relatives--Mr. Matthews's experiences--Jemmy again--Why
Jemmy stayed among his people 95
CHAPTER VIII
THE END OF THE “BLACK HAWK” WAR
What's in a name?--Black Hawk--The Treaty of 1804--How it was
kept--The Treaty of 1830--The beginning of the end--The
Illinois militia--Through Wisconsin--Cholera--General
Atkinson's march continued--The Bad Axe River--An
unlooked-for meeting--On board the _Warrior_--A
dialogue--A _mauvais quart d'heure_--The white men's
revenge--Fording the river, in pursuit--A brief
battle--The Sioux--Capture of Black Hawk--_Vae victis!_ 106
CHAPTER IX
PERUVIAN INDIANS
Lieutenant Smyth, R.N.--The H.M.S. _Samarang_ survey--A rash
offer--The Jevero Indians--The guides' opinion of their
employers--How the mountain Indians defy hunger--Coca
balls--A gruesome neighbourhood--_Alma perdida_--Up the
Huallaga River--Manatee hunters--Trouble caused by the
guides--Smyth's presence of mind 119
CHAPTER X
THE CARIBS OF GUATEMALA
John Lloyd Stephens--A delicate mission--Belize--Reception
by the British Commanding Officer--Up the river--A
genial Franciscan--Caught in the storm--A rude
awakening--"Squaring" the Caribs--Central
Guatemala--Agricultural Caribs--Hospitality--Catherwood
seized with fever--The Charge d'Affaires in a hole--The
native doctor to the rescue--Any port in a storm--A
miraculous cure--Caribs and Mestizo rebels--Joining
forces with the officers--The scuffle--The long mile back
to British soil--Safe over the boundary 128
CHAPTER XI
A PRINCE’S ADVENTURES IN BRAZIL
Prince Adalbert of Prussia--Journey across South America--No
guides--The Brazilian forest--A path discovered--Gathering
cherries--The mysterious Carib--The visit to the
village--The cacique's banquet--An unlooked-for
_taboo_--The bull-fight dance--Carib guides--The Amazon at
last--Indians among the trees and on the river--The party
captured by Guaranis--Taken before the cacique--Ransom--An
unexpected ally--The penitent Guaranis--A tapir hunt 140
CHAPTER XII
INDIAN WARFARE IN CALIFORNIA
Captain Wise, U.S.N.--Sent ashore at Monterey--The march of
the boat's crew--A Yankee trapper settlement--News of the
Apaches and Comanches--Indians in the pay of
Mexico--Preparing for an attack--The night
alarm--"Hy-yah!"--The four Comanches--The palaver--Trouble
ahead--The sudden volley--Pursuing the Apaches--Following
the trail--From the forest to the prairie--A dilemma--The
battle of the Indians--Capture of the fugitives--A
surprise 154
CHAPTER XIII
WITH THE AYMARAS AND MOXOS
Prevalence of Indian tribes in Bolivia--The Colla or Aymara
people--Hugh de Bonelli--The Aymaras as walkers--A walk
along Lake Titicaca--Seventy miles a day--The Moxos--A
glorious canoe-ride--Family parties of Indians on the
river--The gathering of the tribe--The cacique--The
start for the egg-hunt--Turtle "nests"--A large
family--Commencement of the digging--Five days' hard
work--Breaking the eggs--Procuring the oil 166
CHAPTER XIV
A SPORTING TRIP ACROSS THE PRAIRIES
The Hon. Henry Coke--Across the prairies--Bluffs--The
Crow guide--Brought to a full stop--Bison in
sight--Disappearance of the guide and some of the
baggage--Pursuing him--A hopeless chase in the dark--The
Indians' camp-fire--The Pawnees--Bargaining for a
prisoner's life--The new guides--Bison--Cautioning
the new hands--Some very risky hunting--Cut off from
the herd--Man down!--Attacked by an infuriated
bison--Saved by an Indian's presence of mind 175
CHAPTER XV
HOW THE YO-SEMITE VALLEY WAS DISCOVERED
The Sierra Nevada--The Snakes, or Shoshonees--San
Francisco--John Savage--Jose Jerez--Indian
dissatisfaction--Impressing the savages--Trouble
with drunken Indians--An anxious drive--Home
again--Boycott?--Terrible news--Attack on the
Frezno River store--The return--Indians kept at bay
by the diggers--An opportune arrival--A wife
stolen--Pursuit--Volunteers to the rescue--Guided
by prisoners--Found at last--The surrender in the
Yo-Semite Valley 189
CHAPTER XVI
AMONG THE NIQUIRANS AND APACHES
Julius Froebel--A hazardous project--A travelling Indian
tribe--A hot march--Niquiran hospitality--"El Dorado"--A
deserted village--The villagers' gold-mine--Froebel's
reception--The baskets and their contents--A very
ill-judged action--Flight--Froebel's wanderings--Ancient
ruins--A new occupation for the wanderer--The
Apaches--Firing on the Mexicans' camp--Pursuit through the
darkness--An unexpected arrest 204
CHAPTER XVII
ACROSS THE UNITED STATES IN A WAGGON
Mexican Boundary Commission--John Russell Bartlett--An
ethnologist's hunting-ground--Panic among horses
and teamsters--The cause--A remarkable sight--A
bison-surround--Wanton carnage--Approach of the
Missouris--The presents--The delicate part of the
bison--Grave warnings--Breakdown of the waggon--The
Apaches--"Mangus Colorado"--The attack on the inn--The
Apaches put to flight 216
CHAPTER XVIII
A JOURNEY TO THE GRAN CHACO
The Gran Chaco of Western Paraguay--Charles Blachford
Mansfield--Up the Para--The madman's cold
dip--Corrientes--Finding canoemen--The Indians--A
dangerous landing-place--Pitching the
camp--Supper--_Mate_--A jaguar--Game easily
obtained--Nearing Asuncion--An inexplicable scare--Hunting
on the Chaco 226
CHAPTER XIX
AMONG THE SERIS OF MEXICO
Gustav Ferdinand von Tempsky--A risky journey--A
tropical thunderstorm--A warm reception for the
travellers--Mistaken for Indians--The road to
Durango--"They have burnt another village!"--Dr.
Steel as leader--Von Tempsky's "capture"--The Mexican
lancers--A scraggy army--Tracking the redskins--
Sudden appearance of three hundred Indians--Working
with awkward tools--The fight--Reinforced by Yankees 239
CHAPTER XX
A HOLIDAY AMONG THE OJIBEWAS
The Algonquin family--Charles Richard Weld--A holiday tour in
Southern Canada--A coach ride over the prairie--Indian
bullies--Getting rid of them--A rattlesnake
hunt--Extraordinary method of snake-killing--Ojibewa
guides--Rapid-shooting without warning--English
strangers--Major Strickland's farm--Ojibewas as indoor and
outdoor servants--A great prong-buck hunt--Hunting methods
of the Ojibewas--The battue 252
CHAPTER XXI
CHIPPEWYANS AND COLUMBIAN GOLD-DIGGERS
The Columbian gold find of 1857--H.M.S. _Plumper's_
task--Lieut. Mayne, R.N.--The Yale rising--Up the Fraser
in a pinnace--Coming in at the end--The Indians'
complaint--Night march of the bluejackets--Excitement of
the Indian guides--Glee turned to fear--Reaching the scene
of disorder--The miners' outpost--An awful sight--Quelling
the mob--Struggle of the Indians to save their wigwams
from the rioters--Disarming the diggers--The Chippewyan
reinforcement--The lieutenant in an awkward dilemma--The
palaver--An anxious night 264
CHAPTER XXII
THE CHIPPEWYANS OF THE COLUMBIAN MOUNTAINS
John Keast Lord--Across the Columbian Coast
range--Disadvantage of an escort--Lord's best weapon of
defence--"Held up" by Indians--Between danger and
safety--The assailants become guides--Suspicions on both
sides--A night at the Indian camp--The Canadian's
discovery--Lord on his mettle--The escape--Indian notion
of keeping an oath--Signalling--The gorge--The ambush--The
truth 277
CHAPTER XXIII
TWO DAYS IN A MOHAWK VILLAGE
Johann Georg Kohl--The Quebec Mohawks--The Indian
village--Some of the villagers--Lodgings--The chief--His
recollections and his house--His sons--Supper--The evening
chat--Kohl a _persona grata_--A morning in the
forest--Lynx traps--"Scratching the Russian"--The black
bear--Native sport--Old and new customs--A betrothal.... 289
CHAPTER XXIV
CANADIAN LAKE AND RIVER INDIANS
The Athapascan family--The Chippewyans--Rev. C.
Colton--From New York to the Saskatchewan--A
curious demonstration--Making ready for the
Chippewyans--The steam-launch aground--Surrounded by
the canoes--"Sturgeons!"--Making the Indians pay the
piper--The Lake of the Woods--The Indian fur-traders'
camp--Bargaining--Chippewyan "lodges"--Start of the
canoe flotilla--Experiments--The strange river--Too
late to turn--Rapids--An awful fate ahead--The
canoemen's presence of mind--A way of escape--Scaling
the canon--Towing 302
CHAPTER XXV
A WALK ABOUT URUGUAY
Indians of Uruguay--Thomas Woodbine Hinchcliff--A
solitary walk--The mountain-forest--Lost--A very
remarkable bull--Sudden appearance of Indian
cattle-hunters--Lassoing--Breakfast with the
Indians--Riding, under difficulties--A critical
moment--Strange method of persuading a
horse--Thirst--Help in sight, but running away--The
Indian fellow-traveller--A surprise--Sticking up for
the Indian--What the vice-consul had to say 316
CHAPTER XXVI
THE EXPLORATION OF THE SALADO VALLEY
Thomas Hutchinson, F.R.S.--In Santa Fe--A fortunate
meeting--The steam-launch--Up the Salado--The Gaucho
farmstead--The Quiteno guide--His luggage--Warnings--Visit
from the "man-eaters"--The parley from the boat--Feeding
the savages--Their terror at sight of smoke--Fear of the
Quiteno--Men who have sunk to monkey level--Fish-bone
spears--A very indiscreet question--Getting rid of the
savages--Other Indians--Ostrich-hunting--The Quiteno's
contempt for the ox-waggon, and its remedy 328
CHAPTER XXVII
BUSINESS AND PLEASURE ON THE LLANOS
Venezuela--Don Ramon Paez--An extraordinary
commission--Looking for Indians--Finding them--Native
fishermen on the Orinoco--The _payara_ and the _caribe_--A
vicious fish--In search of the three thousand wild
horses--Business-like lassoing--The aide-de-camp's first
attempt--The struggle with a wild horse--The race--Rescued
by a Carib--Deer-hunting with masks 340
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A Startling Experience Frontispiece
PAGE
A Gallant Rescue 20
A Narrow Escape 40
A Plucky Rescue 52
A Bully Well Served 64
A Game at Ball 76
The Snow-shoe Dance of the Red Indians 92
A Fierce Retort 126
Almost a Tragedy 186
Red Indian Attack on a Store 198
A Bison Surround 220
Stocking the Larder 234
A Primitive System of Telegraphy 286
A Novel Bridal Ceremony 298
An Arduous Task 312
Crane Stalking-Masks 346
ADVENTURES AMONG RED INDIANS
CHAPTER I
CHEROKEE WARFARE
It has been said by certain historians that, after the American War of
Independence, British agents were employed not only to poison the
minds of those Siouan and Iroquoian tribes that dwelt on the United
States side of the Boundary, but even to keep them supplied with
rifles and ammunition.
Be that as it may, it is certainly a fact that, in 1793, the Cherokee
and Seneca tribes of the Iroquois were not only at war with the Crows,
Iowas, etc., of the rival Sioux faction, but were turning their
mysteriously obtained rifles on the white people of the States; and
the celebrated General Wayne was sent into Ohio with a strong force of
cavalry and infantry to restore order. He pitched his camp near Fort
Jefferson, on Lake Erie, and having driven away the insurgents, sent a
hundred foot-soldiers, under Lieutenants Lowry and Boyd, across the
lake to a fort near Detroit, to bring back by road three hundred
horses and extra provisions, and, incidentally, to disarm any
quarrelsome redskins they might meet with.
The return march was destined to be a very unpleasant one. Large and
small bodies of the Indians whom Wayne had driven to the forests
persistently harried the column, flank and rear, firing from behind
rocks and among the trees, till, in a couple of days, the hundred men
had become only seventy, and many of the horses had escaped or been
stolen. At noon on the third day the men halted for dinner on a barren
tract between a range of hills and a thick forest; and, in order to
guard against a surprise, Lieutenant Boyd with twenty men was sent to
patrol the woods while the rest ate their meal in comfort. Half an
hour later, while Lieutenant Lowry was preparing to send another
twenty men to relieve the scouts, the report of a gun, followed
quickly by a dozen others, warned him that the day was not to be gone
through without further trouble.
[Illustration: A GALLANT RESCUE
Lieutenant Boyd had been sent with twenty men to patrol the wood while
the main body ate their meal. Presently shots were heard, and Sergeant
Munson was sent to bring back an immediate report. He found the
Lieutenant trying to bind his shattered leg. Shooting the foremost
redskin, the Sergeant mounted the officer on his back and, after several
narrow escapes, brought him into camp.]
Every soldier caught up his rifle and made ready to defend the horses
and stores which had been placed in the centre of the camp. Lowry
called a couple of sergeants to him and pointed to the new patrol.
"Take these to Mr. Boyd's assistance; and you, Munson" (to the younger
sergeant) "bring me back word of what is going on. Hark at that!" A
rapid, running fire was beginning, and above Boyd's voice, which was
shouting directions or encouragement to his men, there rose the truly
fearful war-whoop peculiar to the Cherokee Indians. "Hurry; off with
you! I've enough men here to guard the horses in case----"
The little squad plunged into the wood and made for the scene of
action, which could not be far away, judging by the distinctness of
the voices. They arrived after a minute's quick double, and the sight
that awaited them was not an encouraging one. Ten of their comrades
were already dead or dying; the rest were fighting desperately against
a score of Indians, most of whom were armed with rifles in addition to
their bows and hatchets, while, leaning back against a tree, and doing
his best to cheer on the survivors, sat Lieutenant Boyd, his shin-bone
shattered by a bullet.
The new-comers fired a volley; several Indians fell, and the rest were
speedily charged with fixed bayonets. Again came the horrible
war-whoop, this time from a second batch of Indians who either had
just arrived or had been in hiding, and these hastened to pour flight
after flight of arrows into the rescuers from behind.
Young Munson, who was now fighting on the right wing of the little
force, turned swiftly, and, firing off the charge which he had just
rammed down, shot the foremost of the bowmen. But, even as he started
to reload, he remembered his officer's command to return at once with
news; in the hurry and excitement of the last few minutes he had
forgotten all about it. He looked round for the quickest exit from the
wood, and, in so doing, caught sight of Boyd who, faint with the loss
of blood, had been feebly endeavouring to bandage his wound with a
handkerchief. The sergeant threw one more glance back at the soldiers;
many of them had already fallen before the Indian arrows, and the
rest, paying no attention to their new assailants, were pursuing
those who had guns. Then he turned again to the officer. To leave him
here was to abandon him to death, perhaps by torture.
"Can you get on my back, sir? he said hurriedly. Quick; the
redskins'll be on us in another minute. Here, give me a hold of your
pistol; I must leave my rifle unless you can carry it for me."
But the officer had scarcely strength enough to enable him to stand.
With difficulty Munson hauled him upright against the tree-trunk,
snatched up the pistol in case he should need it on the perilous
little journey which he was undertaking, and, hoisting Boyd on his
back, darted among the trees out of sight of the approaching Indians.
On every side of him shooting seemed to be going on; an arrow fell at
his very feet, and the next moment a stray musket-ball flattened
itself against the tree which he was passing. What he could not
understand was that, the nearer he came with his burden to the camp,
the louder and more frequent did the firing sound. Had his mates
already driven the enemy into the open?
A few steps more and he would be out of the wood. But what was all
this prancing and stamping? The horses could hardly have broken loose,
for, since his recent losses, Lowry had had them tethered in batches
whenever a halt of any length was made. The firing grew louder and
faster than ever, and all doubt in his mind was ended when he heard
the lieutenant's voice ordering the men to charge.
While the two bodies of Indians worked such fearful havoc among the
patrols, a third and stronger party--fifty in number, and many of
them mounted--had worked round to the open and were attacking the
remainder of the company with tomahawks and spears. The horses, many
of them already liberated by the savages, were plunging and screaming.
Lowry, who had leapt on to the back of one of them, was cutting right
and left with his sword at the mounted Indians, while his men, though
they fought furiously, were retreating rather than charging, for these
Cherokee redskins, unlike the timid, treacherous bullies of the
southern and western tribes, knew no such thing as fear; moreover, in
addition to their unquestioned bravery, they often displayed, in their
warfare, an amount of forethought and method that would not have
discredited a white regiment.
Naturally, Munson's first care was to get rid of his burden; and he
resolutely turned his back on the fighting and made for the little
tent that had been hastily rigged up for the two officers when the
company halted. Depositing the wounded man here, he snatched up a
rifle and hurried breathlessly back to take part in the fray, which
was but a small part, for, all in a moment, a spear, thrown with
terrific force, struck him in the shoulder and he dropped to the
ground, striking his head on a boulder so violently that he lost
consciousness.
When he recovered himself, some Indians were bending over him, and one
of them asked him, by signs, if he could stand. He contrived to
stagger to his feet; then, finding that his water-flask was still at
his belt, took a long drink from it, for his lips and throat seemed as
dry as the back of his hand.
"Well done, sergeant; bravo!" said someone behind him; and other
voices echoed the sentiment. He turned his head dazedly, and gave a
start of astonishment. Under a tree near him stood ten men of his
company, some of them with heads or limbs roughly bandaged.
"What's up? he asked. What's happened, anyhow?"
One of the Indians here took him by the arm, led him over to the tree,
and signified that he must take his stand with the rest; and now he
could see that those of his comrades who were not wounded had their
hands bound, and that every man had a lasso-like thong tied about his
waist, the other end of which at present trailed loosely on the
ground.
"We're all on us prisoners; that's what's happened," said a corporal
by whose side he had been placed. "I thought _you_ was done for; 'pon
my word I did."
"Where's all the rest?"
"Dead, or else cut their lucky. Lowry, he's gone out, poor feller."
"How about Left'nant Boyd?"
"Guess he got clear after all. I seen two o' the boys gettin' him on
to a saddle-horse. There's one thing, them as got away on horseback'll
soon take the news to Wayne, so if these varmints don't tomahawk us or
set light to us, I surmise he'll soon be along to rescue us.... What's
their game now?"
Several mounted redskins were coming over to the prisoners, and after
a few words with those who had been taking charge of them, made a sign
to the Yankees that they must be prepared to march. The loose ends of
the thongs that bound them were handed up to one or other of the
horsemen, and they were soon being dragged forward at a brisk walking
pace. Munson indicated that he could not walk far till his wound had
received attention, whereupon, instead of treating him like the rest,
the Indians lifted him on to a spare horse, fastened his ankles under
the animal's belly, and one of the mounted Cherokees, seizing the
bridle, rode on with his captive.
The procession turned at once into the thickest part of the forest,
the horses stepping along so quickly, nevertheless, that those on foot
could scarcely keep up with them. Although there was no visible track
for them to follow, the redskins appeared to know quite well where
they were going; they conversed very little among themselves, and
Munson was riding too far away from his comrades to be able to
communicate with them. As nearly as he could guess by the light, it
must have been after five o'clock, and he had eaten nothing since
midday. He signed to his companion that he was hungry, but the Indian
merely shook his head. In about an hour from the time of starting the
horses were stopped, a short conversation ensued among the riders, and
then, to the sergeant's dismay, all moved on again, every one of the
prisoners being taken in a different direction.
Munson's captor, who was now joined by two other savages, turned in
the direction of the lake shore, and, quickening their pace to a
canter, they rode a good twelve miles without stopping. By dark they
arrived at an encampment where there were at least sixty wigwams
pitched. The horses were pulled up, the prisoner's feet were freed,
and he was ordered to dismount. He again made signs that he was
hungry, and this time one of the Indians pointed encouragingly to a
cooking-pot that hung over the nearest fire, and bade him sit down on
the grass.
Presently a squaw brought a kind of meal cake, and, plunging a wooden
fork into the pot, brought out a bird rather larger than a pigeon,
which she laid on the cake and handed to the captive, the three
Indians helping themselves in a similar manner. After a while, voices
and the tramp of more horses became audible, and about fifty Indians,
seemingly of the same tribe as those who had attacked the soldiers,
marched or rode into the camp. Many of these must have been away on a
hunting expedition, for they had with them a good supply of birds,
deer, hares, and foxes.
Feeling considerably stronger and more hopeful after his meal, the
American cast his eyes round in search of a way of escape. He was
unbound, and might possibly succeed in crawling, inch by inch,
down to the water-side; yet, with his shoulder in its present
condition, he could neither swim nor--supposing he should have the
luck to find a canoe--work a paddle; reason, moreover, suggested
that a semi-permanent camp such as this appeared to be, would
assuredly be far enough away from any white station or boat-route.
While he was still revolving plans, two redskins crossed over to him,
made him stand, seized his arms and bound them securely, though not
unmercifully, behind his back, and motioned to him to follow them.
They conducted him towards the largest of the wigwams, outside which
sat the chief of the tribe, solemnly smoking. After an interval of
dead silence, that personage gave a little shout, and all the men in
the camp collected round about the prisoner. A lengthy harangue
followed, addressed partly to Munson, partly to the bystanders; and,
at the close of this, one of the Indians drew a knife and whetted it
on his moccasin.
Young Munson pulled himself together and endeavoured to take courage
from the fact that, if death had now come, it had come while he was
doing his duty; a man of his calling must expect to meet it any day of
the week; indeed, how many of his old comrades-in-arms had met it
within the last few hours? At least the savages should see that he
could die like a man, without making a fuss.
The Indians nearest to him took him by the shoulders and forced him
into a sitting posture, and the man with the knife walked slowly up to
him and stood grinning over him. Then a horrible thought came to him;
they were going to give him a punishment almost worse than death--to
scalp him, in fact--an indignity which only a man who had lived all
his life in the neighbourhood of Indians could fully appreciate. He
wriggled himself free and, springing up again, kicked out fiercely at
his tormentors. For this they seemed to care little; the man's hands
were tied and he was at their mercy. He was forced down again and held
motionless; then, while one man gripped him by the back of his neck so
that he could not possibly move his head, the operator with the knife
entered upon his task.
But he whom Munson had regarded as the public executioner was but the
barber to the tribe; the formidable-looking knife had no more terrible
work to perform than that of shaving the unfortunate man's head, and
this in token that henceforth he was the chief's bond-slave.
So much relieved that he laughed loudly at himself for his idle fears,
the sergeant was then liberated, and taken to a wigwam where he found
a fellow-slave, a Crow Indian, who had been captured some few weeks
earlier; and both occupied the tent that night, by no means cheered by
the fact that an armed redskin stood at the entrance all night long.
Apart from his anxiety to let his friends know of his whereabouts, the
young man was not unhappy among the Cherokees. For the first month or
two of his captivity a very close watch was kept upon him, and, even
later, it was at all times difficult for him to be away from
observation for many consecutive minutes; but gradually he was given
more liberty, was allowed to go fishing and hunting within certain
limits, and was not again subjected to the disgrace of having his head
shaved. His principal duties were to carry water from the lake,
collect firewood, tend the fires, and do such other menial work as the
squaws were not strong enough for, and as the men were too proud to
do. Having no one to converse with in his own language, he rapidly
picked up theirs, more rapidly indeed than they realised, for they
would often talk of their war plans in his presence as though he would
not understand their talk. From the more approachable of the Cherokees
he occasionally learned news of the outside world; heard that General
Wayne was still fighting against their people, and that "they
themselves didn't care a button for him." He never saw, among them,
any of the horrible scenes of blood and torture which other captives
among Indians have described; they were ignorant and superstitious,
but neither lazy nor drunken nor particularly cruel. Sometimes the
"war-arrow" was brought into the camp by some fleet messenger, and
then the majority of the braves would gallop away or set off in their
canoes, and, after an absence of hours or days, would return--often
laden with spoil taken from the Sioux or the whites, and sometimes
leaving some of their number behind.
We may be sure that, all this while, Munson had worked out a good many
schemes for effecting his escape; but, like a wise man, he knew that
one unsuccessful attempt would infallibly result in prolonging his
captivity and rendering it more severe, if not actually in his death.
When he started, there must be no half-measures; all hindrances and
difficulties must be foreseen and allowed for. He practised
assiduously the art of following a trail, whether by land or water;
already he had become very handy with a bow and arrow, for he was
never allowed firearms; he did his best to become an expert canoeman,
and lost no opportunity, in fact, of learning to outwit the enemy with
their own weapons, all the while telling himself that, sooner or
later, the golden opportunity must come.
It did come, but not till he had been in the Cherokee camp for nearly
eight months. One morning, in the summer of 1794, three Indians whom
he had never seen before and who, he learned, were of the Huron tribe,
rode into the camp and held a short parley with the chief. Very soon
the place was in an uproar, and Munson was easily able to find out the
news. The Iowas had spied out this camp and that of some neighbouring
Hurons, had betrayed the secret to the Yankee general, and he was now
on his way to attack the Hurons' stronghold. In an hour's time all the
men, save three aged braves, had left the wigwams and were on the
war-path.
For a while the sergeant hesitated. If the soldiers really knew how to
find the camp they would force their way to it before long, cost them
what it might; and he would be set at liberty. But the chances were
that he might be either shot down before he could make himself known
to them, or be killed by the Indians the moment he endeavoured to do
so. He would never get a better opportunity of escaping than this, for
the weather was warm, there was no one to stop him from going, and the
canoes were all at his service, as the braves had gone in the opposite
direction to the water.
He waited five days, for the old men left behind had shown a certain
amount of suspicion of him for the first day or two. Then, with a
plentiful supply of food, arrows, and fish-spears, he stole away soon
after sundown, crept into a canoe and paddled away from the shore. His
object was to reach Buffalo if possible, but that was over a hundred
miles away, and he could not paddle day and night without rest.
Knowing that he must husband his strength, he confined himself to an
easy rate of about three miles an hour; and even then, by the time he
had gone thirty miles, he could hardly keep his eyes open.
He had recourse to the good old specific of cold water, took a header
into the lake and, after a short swim, returned to his post, ate a
cold but hearty breakfast, and began again, all the while keeping his
eyes open for any white men's boat that might come along. But the
hours went by and he saw nothing, and the desire for sleep became as
pressing--and just now as much to be dreaded--as though he had been
lost in a snow-drift. He took a second dip and, clambering back into
the canoe, began paddling again, though his muscles were now so stiff
that he could scarcely move his arms.
He was nodding over his now almost useless labour when a light splash,
like the bob of a fish, made him look round him. The splash had been
caused by an arrow. Behind him, two canoes, each with three Indians in
it, were coming along at a speed that he could not have beaten even
had he been perfectly fresh. For just one second there was the hope
that the redskins might be of some tribe hostile to the Cherokees, who
would be willing to help him in return for promises of money, which he
could easily obtain from some charitable person at Buffalo. But he
knew the build, the costume, the very method of using the paddles, too
well; these men were Cherokees. He turned round to pick up his bow,
and, in so doing, looked over the side. Floating within a yard or two
of him was an arrow, lying perfectly horizontal! He stared at it
open-mouthed; an arrow, if the weight of its head did not sink it
entirely, must float perpendicularly, showing but very little of its
length.
But this particular arrow _had_ no head; a token that it had not been
shot in any unfriendly spirit. He looked back at his pursuers again;
one of them was waving his hand, and, as his canoe came almost within
touching distance, shouted:
"We have some fish; will you give us bread in exchange for some? We
have no bread, and very little tobacco." The words sounded very much
like an excerpt from Somebody or Other's "French Exercises," not the
less so in that they were uttered in French-Canadian--a language which
Munson understood perfectly well. He could almost have cried with
relief.
The Cherokees were Ontario fishermen; Christians, and the sons of
Christians, and no more likely to interfere with the soldier than if
they had been his fellow-countrymen. On finding that he spoke not only
French but their own Iroquoian as well, they became exceedingly
friendly; but Munson (perhaps he did them grave injustice) had become
far too cautious to tell them the circumstances under which he had
learned their language. He confined himself to the statement that he
wished to reach Buffalo, and would reward them amply if they would put
him ashore there; he had been robbed of his money, he said--which was
perfectly true--but could easily get some in the town; he was too
tired to use his paddles; would they take him there?
The next thing he knew was that the Indians were waking him at the
quay outside Buffalo; he had fallen asleep even while trying to strike
a bargain with them, and now they refused to take any other payment
than the tobacco and provisions with which he had stored his boat;
and, bidding him good-bye, they landed him and paddled away again.
He went to the nearest military depot and reported himself, and of
course had no difficulty in obtaining the means to reach his home.