n character,
I summoned up all the fortitude of which I was capable, and, in terms
of defiance, told him, that twenty Indians would be sacrificed for each
one of us sacrificed by him. I knew very well that it would not do to
exhibit any signs of fear or cowardice; and, having heard much of the
cupidity of the Indian character, I offered the savage a large ransom if
he would use his influence to procure our release. Here the conversation
was abruptly broken off by a most hideous yell from the whole tribe,
occasioned by their having taken large draughts of the rum, which now
began to operate very sensibly upon them; and, as it will be seen,
operated very much to our advantage. This thirst for rum caused them to
relax their vigilance, and we were left alone to pursue our reflections,
which were not of the most enviable or pleasant character. A thousand
melancholy thoughts rushed over my mind. Here I was, and, in all
probability, in a few hours I should be in eternity, and my death one of
the most horrible description. "Oh!" thought I, "how many were the
entreaties and arguments used by my friends to deter me from pursuing an
avocation so full of hazard and peril! If I had taken their advice, and
acceded to their solicitations, in all probability I should, at this
time, have been in the enjoyment of much happiness." I was aroused from
this reverie by the most direful screams from the united voices of the
whole tribe, they having drunk largely of the rum, and become so much
intoxicated that a general fight ensued. Many of them lay stretched on
the ground, with tomahawks deeply implanted in their skulls: and many
others, as the common phrase is, were "dead drunk." This was an
exceedingly fortunate circumstance for us. With their senses benumbed,
of course they had forgotten their avowal to roast us, or, it may be,
the Indian to whom I proposed ransom had conferred with the others, and
they, no doubt, agreed to spare our lives until the morning. It was a
night, however, of pain and terror, as well as of the most anxious
suspense; and when the morning dawn broke upon my vision, I felt an
indescribable emotion of gratitude, as I had fully made up my mind, the
night previous, that long before this time I should have been sleeping
the sleep of death. It was a pitiable sight, when the morning light
appeared, to see twenty human beings stripped naked, with their bodies
cut and lacerated, and the blood issuing from their wounds; with t