to
the tribe in place of a great chief who had lately died. He seems never
to have known why this honor was done him; but he was then a lusty young
fellow of eighteen who might well have taken the fancy of some of his
captors; and he probably fell into their hands at a moment which their
superstition rendered fortunate for him.

When the squaws had done with him, he was taken up into the council
house of the village, where he was dressed in a new ruffled shirt,
leggins trimmed with ribbons and wrought with beads, and moccasins
embroidered with porcupine quills. His face was painted afresh, and his
scalp lock tied up with red feathers; he was given a pipe and tobacco
pouch and seated upon a bear skin, while one of the chiefs addressed him
in the presence of the assembled warriors. "My son," so the speech was
interpreted to Smith, "you are now flesh of our flesh and bone of our
bone. You are taken into the Caughnewaga nation, and initiated into a
warlike tribe; you are adopted into a great family... in the room and
place of a great man. After what has passed this day, you are now one
of us by an old strong law and custom. My son, you have now nothing to
fear; we are now under the same obligations to love, support, and defend
you, that we are to love and defend one another; therefore you are to
consider yourself as one of our people."

A grand feast of boiled venison and green corn followed, and Smith took
part in it on the same terms as all the rest of his tribe and family. In
due time he found out that no word the chief had addressed him was
idly spoken, and he began to live the life of the savages like one of
themselves, under the affectionate care and constant instruction of his
brethren. He was given a gun, at first, and sent to hunt turkeys, but he
came upon the trace of buffalo, and was lured on by the hope of larger
game, and so lost his way. The Indians found him again easily enough,
but as a punishment for his rashness his gun was taken from him, and for
two years he was allowed to carry only a bow and arrows. Once when the
hunters had killed a bear and he went out with a party to bring in the
meat, Smith complained of the weight of his load; the Indians laughed at
him, and to shame him they gave part of his burden to a young squaw
who already had as much as he to carry. At another time, he went to the
fields with some other young men to watch the squaws hoeing corn; one of
these challenged him to take her hoe,