We were within one hundred yards of a rocky lee shore, and depending
upon one anchor, which, if the gale increased, the captain feared very
much would not hold. The day was wet and squally, and the appearance of
the sky gave us every reason to imagine that the weather, instead of
growing moderate, would become still more tempestuous than it either was
or had been; nevertheless, buoyed up by hope, and by a good share of
animal spirits, we eat our breakfasts regardless of the impending
danger, and afterwards sat down to a game of cards; but scarcely had we
played for one hour when the dismal cry was heard of, “All hands aloft,”
as the vessel was again drifting towards the shore. The day being very
cold, I had thrown a blanket over my shoulders, and had fastened it
round my waist with a girdle, in the Indian fashion; but being incapable
of managing it like an Indian, I stopped to disencumber myself of it
before I went on deck, so that, as it happened, I was the last man
below. The readiest way of going up was through the hatchway, and I had
just got my foot upon the ladder, in order to ascend, when the vessel
struck with great force upon the rocks. The women shrieking now flocked
round me, begging for God’s sake that I would stay by them; at the same
time my companions urged me from above to come up with all possible
speed. To my latest hour I shall never forget the emotions which I felt
at that moment; to have staid below would have been useless; I
endeavoured, therefore, to comfort the poor creatures that clung to me,
and then disengaging myself from them, forced my way upon deck, where I
was no sooner arrived than the hatches were instantly shut down upon the
wretched females, whose shrieks resounded through the vessel,
notwithstanding all the bustle of the seamen, and the tremendous roaring
of the breakers amongst the adjacent rocks.
Before two minutes had passed over, the vessel struck a second time, but
with a still greater shock; and at the end of a quarter of an hour,
during which period she had gradually approached nearer towards the
shore, she began to strike with the fall of every wave.
The general opinion now seemed to be in favour of cutting away the
masts, in order to lighten the vessel; and the axes were actually
upraised for that purpose, when one of my companions, who possessed a
considerable share of nautical knowledge from having been in the navy,
opposed the measure. It appeared to him, that as the pumps were still
free, and as the vessel had not yet made more water than could be easily
got under, the cutting away of the masts would only be to deprive
ourselves of the means of getting off the rock if the wind should veer
about; but he advised the captain to have the yards and topmasts cut
away. The masts were spared, and his advice was in every other respect
attended to. The wind unfortunately, however, still continued to blow
from the same point, and the only alteration observable in it was its
blowing with still greater force than ever.
[Sidenote: A STORM.]
As the storm increased, the waves began to roll with greater turbulence
than before; and with such impetuosity did they break over the bows of
the vessel, that it was with the very utmost difficulty that I, and half
a dozen more who had taken our station on the forecastle, could hold by
our hands fast enough to save ourselves from being carried overboard.
For upwards of four hours did we remain in this situation, expending
every instant that the vessel would go to pieces, and exposed every
three or four minutes to the shock of one of the tremendous breakers
which came rolling towards us. Many of the billows appeared to be half
as high as the foretop, and sometimes, when they burst over us, our
breath was nearly taken away by the violence of the shock. At last,
finding ourselves so benumbed with cold that it would be impossible for
us to make any exertions in the water to save ourselves if the vessel
was wrecked, we determined to go below, there to remain until we should
be again forced up by the waves.
Some of the passengers now began to write their wills on scraps of
paper, and to inclose them in what they imagined would be most likely to
preserve them from the water; others had begun to take from their trunks
what they deemed most valuable; and one unfortunate thoughtless man, who
was moving with his family from the upper country, we discovered in the
very act of loading himself with dollars from head to foot, so that had
he fallen into the water in the state we found him, he must inevitably
have been carried to the bottom.
Words can convey no idea of the wildness that reigned in the countenance
of almost every person as the night approached; and many, terrified with
the apprehensions of a nightly shipwreck, began to lament that the cable
had not been at once cut, so as to have let the vessel go on shore
whilst day-light remained: this indeed had been proposed a few hours
after the vessel began to strike; but it was over-ruled by the captain,
who very properly refused to adopt a measure tending to the immediate
and certain destruction of his vessel, whilst a possibility remained
that she might escape.
Till nine o’clock at night the vessel kept striking every minute, during
which time we were kept in a state of the most dreadful suspence about
our fate; but then happily the wind shifted one or two points in our
favour, which occasioned the vessel to roll instead of striking. At
midnight the gale grew somewhat more moderate; and at three in the
morning it was so far abated, that the men were enabled to haul on the
anchor, and in a short time to bring the vessel once more into deep
water, and out of all danger. Great was the joy, as may well be
imagined, which this circumstance diffused amongst the passengers; and
well pleased was each one, after the fatigue and anxiety of the
preceding day, to think he might securely lay himself down to rest.
The next morning the sun arose in all his majesty from behind one of the
distant islands. The azure sky was unobscured by a single cloud, the air
felt serenely mild, and the birds, as if equally delighted with man that
the storm was over, sweetly warbled forth their songs in the adjacent
woods; in short, had it not been for the disordered condition in which
we saw our vessel, and every thing belonging to us, the perils we had
gone through would have appeared like a dream.
[Sidenote: DAMAGE DONE THE SHIP.]
The first object of examination was the rudder. The tiller was broken to
atoms; and the sailors who went over the stern reported, that of the
four gudgeons or hooks on which the rudder was suspended, only one was
left entire, and that one was much bent. On being unshipped, the bottom
of it was found to be so much shivered that it actually resembled the
end of a broom. The keel, there was every reason to suppose, was in the
same shattered condition; nevertheless the vessel, to the great
astonishment of every person on board, did not make much water. Had she
been half as crazy as the King’s vessel in which we went up the lake,
nothing could have saved her from destruction.
A consultation was now held upon what was best to be done. To proceed on
the voyage appeared totally out of the question; and it only remained to
determine which way was the easiest and readiest to get back to Malden.
All was at a stand, when an officer in the American service proposed the
beating out of an iron crow bar, and the manufacturing of new gudgeons.
This was thought to be impracticable; but necessity, the mother of
invention, having set all our heads to work, an anvil was formed of a
number of axes laid upon a block of wood; a large fire was kindled, and
a party of us acting as smiths in turns, by the end of three hours
contrived to hammer out one very respectable gudgeon.
In the mean time others of the passengers were employed in making a new
tiller, and others undertook to fish for the cable and anchor that had
been slipped, whilst the sailors were kept busily employed at the
rigging. By nightfall the vessel was so far refitted that no
apprehensions were any longer entertained about our being able to reach
Malden in safety, and some began to think there would be no danger in
prosecuting the voyage down the lake. The captain said that his conduct
must be regulated entirely by the appearance of the weather on the
following day.
[Sidenote: MEET TWO YOUNG TRAVELLERS.]
Early the next morning, whilst we yet remained stretched in our births,
our party was much surprised at hearing the sound of strange voices upon
deck; but our surprise was still greater, when on a nearer approach we
recognized them to be the voices of two young friends of ours, who, like
ourselves, had crossed the Atlantic to make a tour of the continent of
North America, and whom, but a few days before we had quitted
Philadelphia, we had accompanied some miles from that city on their way
towards the south. They had travelled, it seemed, from Philadelphia to
Virginia, afterwards to Kentucky, and had found their way from the Ohio
to Detroit on horseback, after encountering numberless inconveniences.
There they had engaged a passage in a little sloop bound to Fort Erie,
the last vessel which was to quit that port during the present season.
They had embarked the preceding day, and in the night had run in to
Put-in-Bay, as the wind was not favourable for going down the lake. The
commander of the sloop offered to stay by our vessel, and to give her
every assistance in his power, if our captain chose to proceed down the
lake with him. The offer was gladly accepted, and it was agreed that the
two vessels should sail together as soon as the wind was favourable.
After having breakfasted, we proceeded with our young friends, in the
ship’s boat, to that part of the island off which we had been exposed to
so much danger. Here we found the shore strewed with the oars, spars,
&c. which had been washed overboard, and from the dreadful manner in
which they were shattered, no doubt remained on our minds, but that if
the vessel had been wrecked, two thirds of the passengers at least must
have perished amidst the rocks and breakers. We spent the day rambling
about the woods, and recounting to each other our adventures since the
last separation, and in the evening returned to our respective ships.
About midnight the wind became fair, and whilst we lay wrapt in sleep
the vessels put to sea.
All hopes of being able to get on shore at Presqu’ Isle were now over,
for the captain, as our vessel was in such a ticklish condition, was
fearful of venturing in there, lest he might lose sight of the sloop; we
made up our minds, therefore, for being carried once more to our old
quarters, Fort Erie; and after a most disagreeable passage of four days,
during which we encountered several squalls not a little alarming,
landed there in safety.
[Sidenote: ENGAGE INDIAN GUIDES.]
Our friends immediately set out for Newark, from whence, if the season
would admit of it, and a favourable opportunity offered, they proposed
to sail to Kingston, and proceed afterwards to Lower Canada; we, on the
contrary, desirous of returning by a different route from that by which
we had come up the country, crossed over to Buffalo Creek, in hopes of
being able to procure horses at the Indian village there, to carry us
through the Genesee country. To our disappointment we found, that all
the Indians of the village who had horses had already set out with them
on their hunting expedition; but the interpreters told us, that if we
would consent to walk through the woods, as far as the settlements of
the white people, the nearest of which was ninety miles from Buffalo
Creek, he did not doubt but that he could find Indians in the village
who would undertake to carry our baggage for us; and that once arrived
at the back settlements, we should find it no difficult matter to hire
horses. We readily agreed to his proposals, and he in consequence soon
picked out from the Indians five men, amongst which was a war chief, on
whom he told us we might place every reliance, as he was a man of an
excellent character. The Indians, it was settled, were to have five
dollars apiece for their services, and we were to furnish them with
provisions and liquor. The interpreter, who was a white man, put us on
our guard against giving them too much of the latter; but he advised us
always to give them some whenever we took any ourselves, and advised us
also to eat with them, and to behave towards them in every respect as if
they were our equals. We had already seen enough of the Indians, to know
that this advice was good, and indeed to have adopted of ourselves the
line of conduct which he recommended, even if he had said nothing on the
subject.
Having arranged every thing to our satisfaction, we returned to Fort
Erie; there we disposed of all our superfluous baggage, and having made
some addition to the stores of dried provisions and biscuits which our
kind friend Captain E—— had furnished us with on leaving his hospitable
roof, we embarked, with all belonging to us, in the ship’s boat, for the
village on Buffalo Creek, where we had settled to pass the night, in
order to be ready to start early the next morning.
[Sidenote: JOURNEY THROUGH THE WOODS.]
The Indians were with us according to appointment at day-break; they
divided the baggage, fastened their loads each on their carrying frames,
and appeared perfectly ready to depart, when their chief requested,
through the interpreter, “that we would give them before they set out a
little of that precious water we possessed, to wash their eyes with,
which would dispel the mists of sleep that still hung over them, and
thus enable them to find out with certainty the intricate path through
the thick forest we were about to traverse;” in other words, that we
would give them some brandy. It is always in figurative language of this
kind that the Indians ask for spirits. We dispensed a glass full of the
precious liquor, according to their desire, to each of them, as well as
to their squaws and children, whom they brought along with them to share
our bounty, and then, the Indians having taken up their loads, we
penetrated into the woods, along a narrow path scarcely discernible,
owing to the quantities of withered leaves with which it was strewed.
After proceeding a few miles, we stopped by the side of a little stream
of clear water to breakfast; on the banks of another stream we eat our
dinner; and at a third we stopped for the night. Having laid down their
loads, the Indians immediately began to erect poles, and cover them with
pieces of bark, which they found lying on the ground, and which had
evidently been left there by some travellers who had taken up their
quarters for the night at this same place some time before; but we put a
stop to their work, by shaking out from the bag in which it was
deposited, our travelling tent. They perceived now that they must employ
themselves in a different manner, and knowing perfectly well what was to
be done, they at once set to work with their tomahawks in cutting poles
and pegs. In less than five minutes, as we all bore a part, the poles
and pegs were cut, and the tent pitched.
One of the Indians now made signs to us to lend him a bag, having
received which he ran into the woods, and was soon out of sight. We were
at a loss to guess what he was in pursuit of; but in a little time he
returned with the bag full of the finest cranberries I ever beheld. In
the mean time another of them, of his own accord, busied himself in
carrying heaps of dried leaves into the tent, which, with our buffalo
skins, afforded luxurious beds to men like us, that had slept on nothing
better than a board for upwards of a month past. In the upper country it
is so customary for travellers to carry their own bedding, that even at
our friend Captain E——’s house we had no other accommodation at night
than the floor of an empty room, on which we spread our skins. As for
themselves, the Indians thought of no covering whatsoever, but simply
stretched themselves on the ground beside the fire, where they lay like
dogs or cats till morning. At day-break we started, and stopped as on
the preceding day beside streams of water to eat our breakfasts and
dinners.
[Sidenote: JOURNEY THROUGH THE WOODS.]
From Buffalo Creek to the place where we encamped on the first night,
distant about twenty-five miles, the country being very flat, and the
trees growing so closely together that it was impossible to see farther
forward in any direction than fifty yards, our journey after a short
time became very uninteresting. Nothing in its kind, however, could
exceed the beauty of the scenery that we met with during our second
day’s journey. We found the country, as we passed along, interspersed
with open plains of great magnitude, some of them not less, I should
suppose, than fifteen or twenty miles in circumference. The trees on the
borders of these having ample room to spread, were luxuriant beyond
description, and shot forth their branches with all the grandeur and
variety which characterizes the English timber, particularly the oak.
The woods round the plains were indented in every direction with bays
and promontories, as Mr. Gilpin terms it, whilst rich clumps of trees,
interspersed here and there, appeared like so many clusters of beautiful
islands. The varied hues of the woods at this season of the year, in
America, can hardly be imagined by those who never have had an
opportunity of observing them; and indeed, as others have often remarked
before, were a painter to attempt to colour a picture from them, it
would be condemned in Europe as totally different from any thing that
ever existed in nature.
These plains are covered with long coarse grass, which, at a future day,
will probably afford feeding to numerous herds of cattle; at present
they are totally unfrequented. Throughout the north-western territory of
the States, and even beyond the head waters of the Mississippi, the
country is interspersed with similar plains; and the farther you proceed
to the westward, the more extensive in general are they. Amidst those to
the westward are found numerous herds of buffaloes, elks, and other wild
graminivorous animals; and formerly animals of the same description were
found on these plains in the state of New York, but they have all
disappeared long since, owing to their having been so constantly pursued
both by the Indians and white people.
Very different opinions have been entertained respecting the deficiency
of trees on these extended tracts of land, in the midst of a country
that abounds so generally with wood. Some have attributed it to the
poverty of the soil; whilst others have maintained, that the plains were
formerly covered with trees, as well as other parts of the country, but
that the trees have either been destroyed by fire, or by buffaloes,
beavers, and other animals.
[Sidenote: JOURNEY THROUGH THE WOODS.]
It is well known that buffaloes, in all those parts of the country where
they are found wild, commit great depredations amongst the trees, by
gnawing off the bark; they are also very fond of feeding upon the young
trees that spring up from seed, as well as upon the suckers of the old
ones; it may readily be imagined, therefore, that the entire of the
trees, on very extended tracts of land, might be thus killed by them;
and as the American timber, when left exposed to the weather, soon
decays, at the end of a few years no vestige of the woods would be found
on these tracts, any more than if they had been consumed by fire.
It appears to me, however, that there is more weight in the opinion of
those, who ascribe the deficiency of trees on the plains to the
unfriendliness of the soil; for the earth towards the surface is
universally very light, and of a deep black colour, and on digging but a
few inches downwards you come to a cold stiff clay. On Long Island, in
the state of New York, plains are met with nearly similar to these in
the back country, and the Dutch farmers, who have made repeated trials
of the soil, find that it will not produce wheat or any other grain,
and, in short, nothing that is at all profitable except coarse grass. I
make no doubt but that whenever a similar trial comes to be made of the
soil of the plains to the westward, it will be found equally incapable
of producing any thing but what it does at present.
[Sidenote: JOURNEY THROUGH THE WOODS.]
After having passed over a great number of these plains of different
sizes, we entered once more into the thick woods; but the country here
appeared much more diversified with rising grounds than it was in any
part we had already traversed. As we were ascending to the top of a
small eminence in the thickest part of these woods, towards the close of
our second day’s journey, our Indian chief, _China-breast-plate_, who
received that name in consequence of his having worn in the American war
a thick china dish as an ornament on his breast, made a sign to us to
follow him to the left of the path. We did so, and having proceeded for
a few yards, suddenly found ourselves on the margin of a deep extensive
pit, not unlike an exhausted quarry, that had lain neglected for many
years. The area of it contained about two acres, and it approached to a
circular form; the sides were extremely steep, and seemed in no place to
be less than forty feet high; in some parts they were considerably
higher. Near the center of the place was a large pond, and round the
edges of it, as well as round the bottom of the precipice, grew several
very lofty pines. The walls of the precipice consisted of a whitish
substance not unlike lime-stone half calcined, and round the margin of
the pit, at top, lay several heaps of loose matter resembling
lime-rubbish. _China-breast-plate_, standing on the brink of the
precipice, began to tell us a long story, and pointing to a distant
place beyond it, frequently mentioned the word Niagara. Whether,
however, the story related to the pit, or whether it related to the
Falls of Niagara, the smoke arising from which it is by no means
improbable might be seen, at times, from the elevated spot where we
stood, or whether the story related to both, we could in no way learn,
as we were totally unacquainted with the Seneka language, and he was
nearly equally ignorant of the English. I never met with any person
afterwards who had seen this place, or who knew any thing relating to
it. Though we made repeated signs to _China-breast-plate_ that we did
not understand his story, he still went on with it for near a quarter of
an hour; the other Indians listened to it with great attention, and
seemed to take no small interest in what he said.
I should have mentioned to you before, that both the Indians and the
white Americans pronounce the word Niagara differently from what we do.
The former lay the accent on the second syllable, and pronounce the word
full and broad as if written Nee-awg-ara. The Americans likewise lay the
accent on the second syllable; but pronounce it short, and give the same
sound to the letters I and A as we do. Niagara, in the language of the
neighbouring Indians, signifies a mighty rushing or fall of water.
On the second evening of our expedition we encamped on a small hill,
from whose top there was a most pleasing romantic view, along a stream
of considerable size which wound round its base, and as far as our eyes
could reach, appeared tumbling in small falls over ledges of rocks. A
fire being kindled, and the tent pitched as usual, the Indians sat down
to cook some squirrels which we had killed on the borders of the plains.
These animals the Indians had observed, as we came along, on the top of
a large hollow tree; they immediately laid down their loads, and each
taking out his tomahawk, and setting to work at a different part of the
tree, it was felled down in less than five minutes, and such of the
squirrels as escaped their dogs we readily shot for them.
The Indian dogs, in general, have short legs, long backs, large pricked
up ears, and long curly tails; they differ from the common English cur
dogs in no respect so much as in their barking but very seldom. They are
extremely sagacious, and seem to understand even what their masters say
to them in a low voice, without making any signs, either with the hand
or head.
[Sidenote: JOURNEY THROUGH THE WOODS.]
Whilst the squirrels were roasting on a forked stick stuck in the
ground, and bent over the fire, one of the Indians went into the woods,
and brought out several small boughs of a tree, apparently of the willow
tribe. Having carefully scraped the bark off from these, he made a sort
of frame with the twigs, in shape somewhat like a gridiron, and heaping
upon it the scraped bark, placed it over the fire to dry. When it was
tolerably crisp he rubbed it between his hands, and put it up in his
pouch for the purpose of smoking.
The Indians smoke the bark of many different trees, and a great variety
of herbs and leaves besides tobacco. The most agreeable of any of the
substances which they smoke are the leaves of the sumach tree,
rhus-toxicodendron. This is a graceful shrub, which bears leaves
somewhat similar to those of the ash. Towards the latter end of autumn
they turn of a bright red colour, and when wanted for smoking are
plucked off and dried in the sun. Whilst burning they afford a very
agreeable perfume. These leaves are very commonly smoked, mixed with
tobacco, by the white people of the country; the smoke of them by
themselves alone, is said to be prejudicial to the lungs. The sumach
tree bears tufted bunches of crimson flowers. One of these bunches
dipped lightly, for a few times, into a bowl of punch, gives the liquor
a very agreeable acid, and in the southern states it is common to use
them for that purpose, but it is a dangerous custom, as the acid, though
extremely agreeable to the palate, is of a poisonous quality, and never
fails to produce a most alarming effect on the bowels if used too
freely.