s steps, and the last of the party carefully
covers over the impressions which his fellows have made. When they are
thus upon the point of accomplishing their purpose the very necessities
of nature are unheeded; they cease to fire upon the beasts of the
forest, lest it should alarm the foe; they feed upon the roots or the
bark of trees, or pass successive days in a perfect abstinence from
food. All this our colonel represented to the general, and conjured him,
with the strongest entreaties, not to hazard the safety of our army by
an incautious progress. He advised him to send out numerous detachments
to beat the bushes and examine the woods; and offered himself to secure
the march of the army. But presumption is always blind; our general was
unacquainted with any other than European warfare, and could not
conceive that naked savages would dare to attack an army of two thousand
disciplined troops.

"One morning, the way before us appeared more intricate and obscure than
common; the forests did not, as usual, consist of lofty trees, which
afford a tolerably clear prospect between their trunks, but were
composed of creeping bushes and impervious thickets. The army marched as
usual, with the vain ostentation of military discipline, but totally
unprepared for the dreadful scene which followed. At length we entered a
gloomy valley, surrounded on every side by the thickest shade, and
rendered swampy by the overflowings of a little rivulet. In this
situation it was impossible to continue our march without disordering
our ranks; and part of the army extended itself beyond the rest, while
another part of the line involuntarily fell behind.

"In the moment while the officers were employed in rectifying the
disorder of their men, a sudden noise of musketry was heard in front,
which stretched about twenty of our men upon the field. The soldiers
instinctively fired towards the part whence they were attacked, and
instantly fell back in disorder. But it was equally vain to retreat or
go forward, for it now appeared that we were completely hemmed in. On
every side resounded the fatal peals of scattering fire, that thinned
our ranks and extended our bravest comrades on the earth. Figure to
yourself a shoal of fishes, enclosed within the net, that circle in vain
the fatal labyrinth in which they are involved; or rather, conceive what
I have myself been witness to--a herd of deer, surrounded on every side
by a band of active and unpitying