they were habitually acquainted with those arts
which were necessary to detect and defeat the one, and to lessen and
alleviate the others. Intrepid and fearless, yet cautious and prudent,
there was united in each of them, the sly, circumventive powers of the
Indian, with the bold defiance, and open daring of the whites. Quick,
almost to intuition, in the perception of impending dangers, instant
in determining, and prompt in action; to see, to resolve, and to
execute, were with them the work of the same moment. Rife in
expedients, the most perplexing difficulties rarely found them at a
loss. Possessed of these qualities, they were placed at the head of
the little colonies planted around them; not by ambition, but by the
universal voice of the people; from a deep and thorough conviction,
that they only were adequate to the exigencies of their situation.
The conviction was not ill founded. Their intellectual and physical
resources were powerfully and constantly exerted for the preservation
and security of the settlements; and frequently, with astonishing
success, under the most inauspicious circumstances. Had they indeed,
by nature, been supine and passive, their isolated situation, and the
constantly repeated attempts of the Indians, at their extermination,
would have aroused them, as it did others, to activity and energy, and
brought their every [144] nerve into action. For them, there were no
"weak, piping times of peace,"--no respite from danger. The
indefatigable vigilance and persevering hostility of an unrelenting
foe, required countervailing exertions on their part; and kept alive
the life, which they delighted to live.

From the instant those establishments were made, and emigrants placed
themselves in their vicinity, the Savages commenced their usual mode
of warfare; and marauding parties were ever in readiness, to seize
upon, those, whose misfortune it was to become exposed to their
vigilance. In the prosecution of these hostilities, incidents of the
most lively and harrowing interest, though limited in their
consequences, were constantly recurring; before a systematic course of
operations, was undertaken for the destruction of the settlers.

The Indians, seeing that they had to contend with persons, as well
skilled in their peculiar mode of warfare, as themselves, and as likely
to detect them, while lying in wait for an opportunity to strike the
deadly blow, as they were to strike it with impunity, they entir