he Abenakis sorely needed English guns, knives,
hatchets, and kettles, and nothing but the utmost vigilance could
prevent them from coming to terms with those who could supply their
necessities. Hence the policy of the French authorities on the frontier
of New England was the opposite of their policy on the frontier of New
York. They left the latter undisturbed, lest by attacking the Dutch and
English settlers they should stir up the Five Nations to attack Canada;
while, on the other hand, they constantly spurred the Abenakis against
New England, in order to avert the dreaded event of their making peace
with her.

The attack on Wells, Casco, and the intervening settlements was
followed by murders and depredations that lasted through the autumn and
extended along two hundred miles of frontier. Thirty Indians attacked
the village of Hampton, killed the Widow Mussey, a famous Quakeress, and
then fled to escape pursuit. At Black Point nineteen men going to their
work in the meadows were ambushed by two hundred Indians, and all but
one were shot or captured. The fort was next attacked. It was garrisoned
by eight men under Lieutenant Wyatt, who stood their ground for some
time, and then escaped by means of a sloop in the harbor. At York the
wife and children of Arthur Brandon were killed, and the Widow Parsons
and her daughter carried off. At Berwick the Indians attacked the
fortified house of Andrew Neal, but were repulsed with the loss of nine
killed and many wounded, for which they revenged themselves by burning
alive Joseph Ring, a prisoner whom they had taken. Early in February a
small party of them hovered about the fortified house of Joseph Bradley
at Haverhill, till, seeing the gate open and nobody on the watch, they
rushed in. The woman of the house was boiling soap, and in her
desperation she snatched up the kettle and threw the contents over them
with such effect that one of them, it is said, was scalded to death. The
man who should have been on the watch was killed, and several persons
were captured, including the woman. It was the second time that she had
been a prisoner in Indian hands. Half starved and bearing a heavy load,
she followed her captors in their hasty retreat towards Canada. After a
time she was safely delivered of an infant in the midst of the winter
forest; but the child pined for want of sustenance, and the Indians
hastened its death by throwing hot coals into its mouth when it cried.
The astonis