mill, a Quaker was there who gave us a letter, and told us it was
difficult travelling, on account of the height of the water in the
creeks; that about eight miles further on, some Indians had come to
live, a little off the path on the left hand. We thought we should
reach there by evening. We left the falls about two o'clock, following
the ordinary path, which is the same for men and horses, and is grown
up on both sides with bushes, which wore our breeches, stockings and
shoes, as much as all the woods in Maryland together. The road runs
from here east-northeast. When we came upon the land above, we found
an extraordinary quantity of water, not only upon the flats and in the
valleys, brooks, and morasses, but also upon the high, solid ground.
We supposed this was caused by shutting up the creek by the mill dam,
whereby the water did not have shoot sufficient to run down, but it
was not that alone. We pursued our way, however, courageously, but
discovered no Indians up to evening. We called aloud to ascertain
whether they were about there, as they would answer if they were; and
as our guide could speak the Indian language well, we thought it would
all come right. But it was to no purpose; we perceived no Indians. We
had gone about twelve miles from the falls, and it began to grow dark,
when we came to a hill descending to a creek or small river called
Millstone River, whence we saw fire at a distance, and supposed that
Indians or other people might be about there. We therefore called out
again several times, but received no answer. On arriving at the creek
we found it so full of water, and running so swiftly, there was no
prospect of crossing it that evening, the more so as it was almost
entirely dark. We looked about for some wood, though there was not
much at this place, and collected as much as we thought we should want
to burn for the whole night. We made a good fire, and after warming
and drying ourselves, ate our supper from what we had brought in our
travelling bag. At last we lay down around the fire and fell asleep,
having travelled twenty-five miles during the day; but our rest did
not continue long, as it began to rain hard before midnight, and we
soon awoke and arose to attend to our fire, in order that it might not
be extinguished. The rain continued so long and increased so that we
could not sit down, because the place was so full of water. We had to
take care and protect the fire from going out, which ga