such of his countrymen as were poor, and of their generous protection to
the whole; contrasted with the ambitious views of the English, who were
not content with their deer-skins and beaver, but coveted their lands.
He said, “the Muskohge were sorry and surprised that their old friends
the Chikkasah, in concert with a mad Englishman, should seduce their
warriors to join with them to spill the blood of their French beloved
friends, when they were by national consent, only to revenge crying
blood against the Aquahpah; and that the former would be ashamed to
allow the latter to carry those captives, who were their friends,
through their nation to Charles-town. But, said he, as the Muskohge are
desirous always to shake hands with the Chikkasah, the head-men have
sent me in their name, to request you _Pa-Yah-Matahah_[190] and other
beloved warriors, to deliver to me those unfortunate prisoners, as a
full proof you are desirous of tying fast the old friend-knot, which you
have loosed in some measure.” In this manner, the red ambassador of the
dangerous Alebahma French captain flourished away and waited for a
favourable answer, according to the confident hopes his employer had
taught him to entertain, by the strong motive of self-interest.
But though the daring Chikkasah leader, and each of us, according to
custom were silent, during the recital of the disagreeable harangue,
only by stern-speaking countenances, _Pa-Yah-Matahah_ replied, “O you
Muskohge corrupted chieftain, who are degenerated so low as to become a
strong-mouthed friend of the French, whose tongues are known of a long
time, to be forked like those of the dangerous snakes; your speech has
run through my ears, like the noise of a threatening high wind, which
attacks the traveller as soon as he climbs to the top of a rugged steep
mountain: though as he came along, the air was scarcely favourable
enough for him to breathe in. You speak highly in praise of the French;
and so do the baser sort of the Choktah, because every year they receive
presents to make their lying mouths strong. That empty sounding kettle,
fastened at the top of your bundle along side of you, I know to be
French, and a true picture both of their messages, and methods of
sending them. The {333} other things it contains, I guess, are of the
same forked-tongued family; for if your speech had come from your own
heart, it must have been straighter. What can be more crooked than it
now is? Though I have no occasion to make any reply to your unjust
complaints against the English people, as their chieftain, my friend,
has his ears open, and can easily confute all you said against his
people and himself; yet to prevent any needless delay on our day’s
march, I shall give as full an answer to your speech, as the short time
we can stay here will allow. Since the time the English first shaked
hands with you, have not they always held you fast by the arm, close to
their heart, contrary to the good liking of your favourite French? And
had they not helped you with a constant supply of every thing you stood
in need of, in what manner could you have lived at home? Besides, how
could you have secured your land from being spoiled by the many friendly
red people of the French, issuing from the cold north? Only for their
brotherly help, the artful and covetous French, by the weight of
presents and the skill of their forked tongues, would before now, have
set you to war against each other, in the very same manner they have
done by the Choktah; and when by long and sharp struggles, you had
greatly weakened yourselves, they by the assistance of their northern
red friends, would have served you in the very same manner, their lying
mouths, from their own guilty hearts, have taught you so unjustly and
shamefully to repeat of the English. You have openly acknowledged your
base ingratitude to your best and old steady friends, who, I believe,
could damage you as much as they have befriended you, if you provoke
them to it. Allowing the speech you have uttered with your mouth to be
true, that you are sent by all the red chieftains of your Muskohge
people, were your hearts so weak as to imagine it could any way frighten
the Chikkasah? Ye well know, the ugly yellow French have proved most
bitter enemies to us, ever since we disappointed them in their spiteful
design of inslaving and murdering our poor, defenceless, and inoffensive
red brethren, the Nahchee, on the banks of the Meshesheepe water-path.
Ye may love them, if it seems good to your hearts; your example that way
shall have no weight with us. We are born and bred in a state of war
with them: and though we have lost the greater part of our people,
chiefly through the mean spirit of their red hirelings, who were
continually stealing our people for the sake of a reward; yet they
feelingly know we beat them, and their employers, in every public
engagement. We are the same people, and we shall certainly live and die,
in {334} such a manner as not to sully the ancient character of our
warlike fore-fathers. As the French constantly employed their red people
in acts of enmity against our English traders, as well as us,—my beloved
friend, standing there before you, complained of it to the
_Goweno-Minggo_ in Charles-town, (the Governor of South-Carolina) and he
gave him _Hoolbo Hooreso Paraska Orehtoopa_, (their method of expressing
our provincial seal, for _hoolbo_ signifies a picture, _hooreso_ marked,
or painted, _paraska_ made bread of, and _oretoopa_ beloved, or of high
note or power,) I and my warriors gladly shaked hands with his speech;
and so did those of your own country, who assured us, they always
scorned to be servants to the crafty lying French. At their own desire,
our old beloved men crowned them warriors, in the most public and solemn
manner. They were free either to shut or open their ears to the English
beloved speech. And why should we not be as free to go to war against
our old enemies, as you are against yours? We are your friends by
treaty; but we scorn a mean compliance to any demand, that would cast a
disgrace on our national character. You have no right to demand of me
those ugly French prisoners. We took them in war, at the risque of
blood: and at home in our national council, we firmly agreed not to part
with any of them, in a tame manner, till we got to Charles-town. If the
Muskohge are as desirous as we to continue to hold each other firmly by
the hand, we shall never loose the friend-knot: we believe such a tie is
equally profitable to each of us, and hope to continue it, to the latest
times.”
When the French ambassador found he must fail in his chief aim, he with
a very submissive tone, requested the Chikkasah war-leader to give him a
token, whereby he might get the other captives who were left at home:
but as they usually deny with modesty, he told him, he could not advise
him to take the trouble to go there, as he believed the head-men had
kept them behind on purpose that they should be burnt at the stake, if
any mischance befell him and his warriors, before they returned home, on
account of his French prisoners. Finding that his threats and entreaties
both proved ineffectual, he was obliged to acquiesce. Soon after, we set
off, and he and his chagrined mercenaries quietly took up their
travelling bundles, and followed us.
On that day’s march, a little before we entered the long swamp, all our
Chikkasah friends staid behind, killing and cutting up buffalo: {335} By
this means, I was a considerable way before the pack-horses, when we
entered into that winding and difficult pass, which was a continued
thicket. After riding about a mile, I discovered the fresh tracks of
three Indians. I went back, put the white people on their guard, gave my
horse and sword to a corpulent member of the Sphynx-company, and set off
a-head, shunning the path in such places where the savages were most
likely to post themselves. Now and then I put up the whoop on different
sides of the path, both to secure myself and intimidate the opposite
scout-party; otherwise, I might have paid dear for it, as I saw from a
rising point, the canes where they were passing, to shake. I became more
cautious, and they more fearful of being inclosed by our party. They ran
off to their camp, and speedily from thence up the craggy rocks, as
their tracks testified. Their lurking place was as artfully chosen, as a
wolf could have fixed on his den. When our friendly Indians came to our
camp, it was too late to give chase: they only viewed their tracks. At
night, the Chikkasah war-leader gave out a very enlivening war speech,
well adapted to the circumstances of time and place, and each of us lay
in the woodland-form of a war-camp. As we were on our guard, the enemy
did not think it consistent with their safety to attack us—ambuscading
is their favourite plan of operation. The next day by agreement, the
Indians led the van, and I brought up the rear with the French
prisoners. A short way from our camp, there were steep rocks, very
difficult for loaded horses to rear and ascend. Most of them had the
good fortune to get safe up, but some which I escorted, tumbled
backwards; this detained us so long, that the van gained near three
miles upon us. I posted myself on the top of one of the rocks, as a
centinel to prevent our being surprised by the Choktah, and discovered
them crawling on the ground behind trees, a considerable way off, on the
side of a steep mountain, opposite to us. I immediately put up the war
whoop, and told a young man with me the occasion of it; but he being
fatigued and vexed with his sharp exercise, on account of the horses,
only cursed them, and said, we were warriors, and would fight them, if
they durst come near enough. As I was cool, I helped and hastened him
off: in the mean while, I cautioned the captives against attempting to
fly to the enemy in case they attacked us, as their lives should
certainly pay for it—and they promised they would not. We at last set
off, and met with no interruption: the enemy having a sharp {336} dread
of our party ahead, who would have soon ran back to our assistance, had
they attacked us—About an hour after our company, we got to camp. The
Choktah at night came down from the mountains, and creeped after us. Our
camp was pitched on very convenient ground, and as they could not
surprise us, they only viewed at a proper distance, and retired. But
they used an artful stratagem, to draw some of us into their treacherous
snares; for they stole one of the bell horses, and led it away to a
place near their den, which was about a mile below us, in a thicket of
reeds, where the creek formed a semi-circle. This horse was a favourite
with the gallant and active young man I had escorted the day before to
camp.
As he was of a chearful and happy temper, the people were much surprised
to find him at night peevish and querulous, contrary to every part of
his past conduct; and though he delighted in arms, and carried them
constantly when he went from camp, yet he went out without any this
night, though I pressed him to take them. In less than an hour, he
returned safe, but confused and dejected. When he sat down, he drooped
his head on his hands, which were placed on his knees, and said, the
enemy were lurking, and that we should soon be attacked, and some of us
killed. As I pitied the state of his mind, I only told him, that
yesterday, he and I knew the French savages were watching to take an
advantage of us; but for his satisfaction I would take a sweep, on foot,
while the Chikkasah painted themselves, according to their war-custom
when they expect to engage an enemy. I went out with my gun, pouch, and
belt-pistols, and within two-hundred yards of the camp, discovered the
enemies tracks; they had passed over a boggy place of the creek, upon an
old hurricane-tree. I proceeded with the utmost caution, posting myself
now and then behind large trees, and looking out sharply lest I should
fall into an ambuscade, which the Choktah are cunning artists in
forming. In this manner I marched for three quarters of an hour, and
then took to high ground, a little above the enemies camp, in order to
return for help to attack them. But the aforesaid brave youth, led on by
his ill genius, at this time mounted a fiery horse, which soon ran into
the ambuscade, where they shot him with a bullet in his breast, and
another entered a little below the heart. The horse wheeled round in an
instant, and sprung off, but in pitching over a large fallen tree, the
unfortunate rider, by reason of his mortal wounds, {337} fell off, a
victim to the barbarians. One of them soon struck a tomohawk into his
head, just between his eyes, and jerked off a piece of scalp about the
bigness of a dollar—they took also his Indian breeches, and an
handkerchief he had on his head, and immediately flew through a thicket
of briars, to secure their retreat. When they fired their two guns, I
immediately gave the shrill war-whoop, which was resounded by one of the
Chikkasah that had been out a hunting from the camp. They instantly set
off full speed, naked, except their Indian breeches and moccasenes. I
put myself in the same flying trim, on the enemies firing; we soon came
to the tragical spot, but without stopping, we took their tracks, gave
chase, and continued it a great way: unluckily, as we were running down
a steep hill, they discovered us from the top of another, and soon
dispersed themselves; by which means, not being able to discover one
track of those foxes on the hard hilly ground, we were obliged to give
over the chace, and returned to camp. We buried our friend, by fixing in
a regular manner a large pile of great logs for the corpse, with big
tough sapplings bent over it, and on each side, thrust deep into the
ground, to secure it from the wild beasts. Though the whole camp at
first imagined the enemy had killed me and captivated the other, yet the
warriors did not shew the least emotion of gladness, nor even my
favourite friend, the war-leader, when they first saw me safe: but the
women received me with tears of joy. I mention this to shew the force of
education and habit—those who are used to scenes of war and blood,
become obdurate and are lost to all the tender feelings of nature; while
they, whose employment it is to mourn for their dead, are susceptible of
the tender impressions they were originally endued with by Deity.
As the French frequently had been great sufferers by the Chikkasah, ever
since the year 1730, necessity obliged them to bear their losses with
patience, till they could get them revenged by the friendly hands of
their red mercenaries. As soon as they had ingratiated themselves into
the affections of all those Indians who were incorporated among the
Muskohge, and had settled them near the Alebahma-garrison; and other
towns, besides headmen, in sundry parts of the nation, being devoted to
their service, they imagined they had now interest enough to get several
of those warriors killed, who had joined the Chikkasah against their
people over the Missisippi. But the old head-men of the Muskohge
convened together, {338} and agreed to send a peremptory message to the
French, ordering them, forthwith, to desist from their bloody politics,
otherwise the river should carry their blood down to Mobille, and tell
that garrison, their own treachery was the sole occasion of it, by
mischievously endeavouring to foment a civil war between them, as they
boasted they had done among the foolish Choktah. With much regret they
laid aside their scheme, and were forced openly to wipe away the memory
of every thing which had before given them offence; and to include all
indiscriminately in the treaty of friendship, as all had only one fire.
This proved a mortifying stroke to the French on sundry accounts: and
during the continuance of this distracted scene, if any British governor
of capacity and public spirit, had properly exerted himself, they must
have withdrawn to Mobille, without any possibility of ever returning.
For the enmity would soon have advanced to a most implacable hatred, as
in the case of the Chikkasah and French: but such a conduct was
incompatible with the private views of some among us.
As the small-pox broke out in our camp, when we got nigh to the Muskohge
country, and detained the Indians there till they recovered, I set off
without them for Charles-town. By the benefit of the air, and their
drinking a strong decoction of hot roots, they all recovered. A Choktah
warrior of Yahshoo-town, humorously told me afterwards, that _ookka
hoomeh_, “the bitter waters,” meaning spirituous liquors, cured some
people, while it killed others. He, by the advice of one of the English
traders, administered it in pretty good doses to seven of his children
in the small-pox, which kept out the corrupt humour, and in a short time
perfectly cured each of them, he said, without the least appearance of
any dangerous symptoms; whereas the disorder proved very mortal to the
young people in the neighbourhood, who pursued a different course of
physic. As most of the Indian traders are devotees of Bacchus, their
materia medica consists of spirituous liquors, compounded with strong
herbs and roots, of which they commonly have a good knowledge: and I
have observed those who have left off the trade, and reside in the
British settlements, to give their negroes for an anti-venereal, a large
dose of old Jamaica and qualified mercury mixt together,—which, they
say, the blacks cheerfully drink, without making a wry face, contrary to
their usage {339} with every other kind of physic; and it is affirmed,
that by this prescription, they soon get well.
The small pox with which the upper towns of the Muskohge were infected,
was of the confluent sort, and it would have greatly depopulated them,
if the officious advice of some among us, of all the other towns to cut
off every kind of communication with them, on the penalty of death to
any delinquent, had not been given and pursued. They accordingly posted
centinels at proper places, with strict orders to kill such, as the most
dangerous of all enemies: and these cautious measures produced the
desired effect. And by the mean mediation of several of our principal
traders, joined with the interest of their red friends, the commandant
of the Alebahma fort, prevailed at last on the Chikkasah chieftain to
take the three French prisoners to him, as he would pay him to his own
satisfaction, give him presents, and drink with him as a friend, who had
buried the bloody tomohawk deep in the ground. They were delivered up;
and by that means the French were enabled to discourage those Muskohge
warriors, who had joined the Chikkasah in the aforesaid acts of
hostility against the Missisippi inhabitants. In about the space of
three months from the time the Chikkasah left their own country with me,
they arrived at the late New-Windsor garrison, the western barrier of
South-Carolina, and beautifully situated on a high commanding bank of
the pleasant meandering Savanah river; so termed on account of the
Shawano Indians having formerly lived there, till by our foolish
measures, they were forced to withdraw northward in defence of their
freedom.
At the request of the governor and council I rode there, to accompany
our Chikkasah friends to Charles-town, where, I believe, on my account,
they met with a very cold reception: for as something I wrote to the two
gentlemen who fitted out, and sustained the loss of the Sphynx-company,
had been inserted in the “modest reply to his Excellency the Governor,”
formerly mentioned, in order to obtain bills of exchange on Great
Britain, I was now become the great object of his displeasure, and of a
certain sett, who are known to patronise any persons if they chance to
be born in the same corner of the world with themselves. The Chikkasah
had a very ungracious audience: On account {340} of the excessive
modesty of this warlike people, their chieftain gave out a short
oration, without hinting in the most distant manner, at any difficulties
they underwent, by reason of their strong attachment to the British
Americans,—concluding, that as the English beloved men were endowed with
a surprising gift of expressing a great deal in few words, long speeches
would be troublesome to them. He intended to have spoken afterwards of
the Choktah affairs, and that I was a great sufferer by them, without
any just retribution, and accordingly was very desirous of a second
public interview; but our cunning beloved man artfully declined it,
though they staid as late as the middle of April. It was a custom with
the colony of South-Carolina towards those Indians who came on a
friendly visit, to allow them now and then a tolerable quantity of
spirituous liquors, to cheer their hearts, after their long journey;
but, if I am not mistaken, those I accompanied, had not a drop, except
at my cost. And when the Governor gave them, at the entrance of the
council-chamber, some trifling presents, he hurried them off with such
an air as vexed them to the heart; which was aggravated by his earnestly
pointing at a noted war-leader, and myself, with an angry countenance,
swearing that Indian had been lately down from Savanah, and received
presents. They had so much spirit that they would not on any account
have accepted his presents, but for my persuasions. As for myself, I
could not forbear saying, honour compelled me as solemnly to declare
that his assertion was not true, and that I had often given more to the
Choktah at one time, than he had ever given to the Chikkasah, in order
to rivet their enmity against the French of Louisiana, and thereby open
a lasting trade with them, from which I was unfairly excluded, on
account of a friendly monopoly, granted by him for a certain end to mere
strangers. My words seemed to lie pretty sharp upon him, and I suppose
contributed not a little to the uncourtly leave he took of our gallant,
and faithful old friends. Soon after, at the request of the Governor and
council however, I accompanied them the first day’s march, on their way
home from Charles-town: they had no public order of credit for their
needful travelling charges, though I sollicited his Excellency and the
council to grant them one, according to the ancient, hospitable, and
wise custom of South-Carolina, to all Indians who paid them a friendly
visit, whose journey was far shorter, were often uninvited, and of much
less service, than the Chikkasah to the British interest. As their
horses were {341} very poor, I told the Governor they could travel only
at a slow pace, and as the wild game was scarce in our settlements,
hunger, and resentment for their unkind usage, would probably tempt them
to kill the planters stock, which might produce bad consequences, and
ought to be cautiously guarded against; but I was an unfortunate
solicitor.
With a flow of contrary passions I took my leave of our gallant
Chikkasah friends. I viewed them with a tender eye, and revolved in my
mind the fatigues, difficulties, and dangers, they had cheerfully
undergone, to testify the intense affection they bore to the British
Americans,—with the ill treatment they had received from our chief
magistrate, on account of his own disappointments, and sharp-felt
censures, for some supposed mismanagement, or illicit measures in trade.
He is reported to have been no way churlish to several of the dastardly
Choktah, notwithstanding his unprecedented and unkind treatment of our
warlike Chikkasah—two hundred of which would attack five hundred of the
others, and defeat them with little loss. Their martial bravery has
often testified this against enemies even of a greater spirit.