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Mount Hope appears to have been called by the Indians Mont Haup, or Montaup; and has been thence easily corrupted into its present name. It has given occasion for many pleasant puns to Mr. Hubbard and Cotton Mather. As when Philip fled there, in his last exigency, it is called Mount Hope, rather Mount Misery— “lucus a non lucendo,” &c. It is called Haup, throughout the poem; improperly, I believe—Transeat cum cæteris. The following description is pretty correct; although somebody has been playing a hoax upon the worthy meditator among the tombs; first, as to the name of the hill; secondly, as to the fact of Philip's choosing the most conspicuous situation he could possibly select, when he most needed concealment; and, thirdly, as to the circumstance of his droll exhibition, on the occasion of his death. That there is no foundation for this tradition seems evident, from the account of Captain Church himself, extracted in the Notes to the Sixth Canto.

“King Philip, as he is usually called, erected his wigwam on a lofty and beautiful rise of land in the eastern part of Bristol, which is generally known by the name of Mount Hope. According to authentic tradition, however, Mon Top was the genuine aboriginal name of this celebrated eminence. To this there was, no doubt, an appropriate meaning; but it cannot, at present, be easily ascertained.

“From the summit of this mount, which is, perhaps, less than three hundred feet above high water mark, it is said, that in a clear day, every town in Rhode-Island may be seen. The towering spires of Providence in one direction, those of Newport in another, the charming village of Bristol, the fertile island of Poppasquash, fields clothed with a luxuriant verdure as far as the eye can stretch, irregular meandering waters intersecting the region to the west, Mount Hope bay on the east, and distant lands, with various marks of high cultivation, form, in the aggregate, a scene truly beautiful and romantic.

“The late Lieut. Gov. Bradford, in early life, knew an aged squaw, who was one of Philip's tribe, was well acquainted with this Sagamore in her youthful days, and had often been in his wigwam. The information through her is, therefore, very direct as to the identical spot where he fixed his abode. It was a few steps south of Captain James De Wolf's summer-house, near the brow of the hill, but no vestige of the wigwam remains. The eastern side of this hill is very steep, vastly more so than that at Horse Neck, down which the intredip Putnam trotted his sure-footed steed, in manner worthy of a knight of the tenth century, in time of the revolutionary war, and wonderfully escaped his pursuing enemy.

“When Church's men were about to rush upon Philip, he is said to have evaded them by springing from his wigwam, as they were entering it, and rolling, like a hogshead, down the precipice which looks towards the bay.

“Having reached the lower part of this frightful ledge of rocks, without breaking his bones, he got upon his feet and ran along the shore, in a northeasterly direction, about a hundred rods, and endeavoured to screen himself in a swamp, then a quagmire, but now terra firma.

“Here the Sachem of Mon Top, long the Magormissabib of the New-England colonies, was shot, on the 12th of August, 1676, by Richard, one of his Indians, who had been taken, a little before, by the noted Captain Church, and was become his friend and soldier.

“The ledge of rocks, forming the precipice before mentioned, extends, for a considerable distance, nearly parallel with the shore of the bay. In a certain situation between the site of the wigwam and the place where Philip received his death wound, and where the solid mass of quartz, which forms the basis of Mon Top, is nearly perpendicular and forty or fifty feet high, is a natural excavation of sufficient dimensions to afford a convenient seat. It is five or six feet from the ground, and is known by the name of Philip's Throne. A handsome grass plat of small extent lies before it. At the foot of the throne is a remarkably fine spring of water, from which proceeds a never-failing stream. This is called Philip's Spring.

“On that throne, tradition says, Philip used often to sit in regal style, his warriors forming a semicircle before him, and give law to his nation.”—

Rev. T. Alden's collection of Epitaphs. Pentade I. Vol. IV.

Aquetnet was the Indian name for the island, now called Rhode-Island.—

New England's Memorial, 116.

The Pocasset shore, now called Tiverton, is opposite Mount Hope.

“As for the rest of the Indians, ever since the suppression of the Pequods, in the year 1637, until the year 1675, there was always in appearance amity and good correspondence on all sides; scarce an Englishman was ever known to be assaulted or hurt by any of them until after the year 1674, &c.”—

Hubbard's Narrative of the Indian Wars in New England, &c.

“The Pequots, or Pequods, were a people seated in the most southerly bounds of New-England; whose country the English of Connecticut jurisdiction doth now, for the most part, possess. This nation were a very warlike and potent people, about forty years since: at which time they were in their meridian. Their chief Sachem held dominion over divers petty Sagamores; as over part of Long-Island, over the Mohegans, and over the Sagamores of Quinapeake, yea over all the people that dwelt upon Connecticut river, and over some of the most southerly inhabitants of the Nipmuck country, about Quinabaag. The principal Sachem lived at, or about Pequot, now called Lew-London. These Pequots, as old Indians relate, could, in former times, raise four thousand men fit for war; and held hostility with their neighbours, that lived bordering upon them to the east and north, called the Narragansitts or Nechegansitts; but now they are few, not above three hundred men; being made subject unto the English, who conquered and destroyed most of them, upon their insolent deportment and just provocation, Anno 1638.”—

Gookin's Historical Collections of the Indians in New-England; first printed from the original manuscript, at Boston, in 1792.

“Historians have treated of the Pequots and Moheagans as two distinct tribes, and have described the Pequot country, as lying principally within the three towns of New-London, Groton and Kensington. All the tract above this, as far north and east as has been described, they have represented as the Moheagan country. Most of the towns in this tract, if not all of them, hold their lands by virtue of deeds from Uncas, or his successors, the Moheagan Sachems. It is, however, much to be doubted, whether the Moheagans were a distinct nation from the Pequots. They appear to have been a part of the same nation, named from the place of their situation. Uncas was evidently of the royal line of the Pequots, both by his father and mother; and his wife was daughter of Tatobam, one of the Pequot Sachems. He appears to have been a petty Sachem, under Sassacus, the great prince of the nation. When the English first came to Connecticut, he was in a state of rebellion against him, and of little consequence among the Indians. The Pequots were, by far, the most warlike nation in Connecticut, or even in New-England, &c. Their principal fort was on a commanding and most beautiful eminence, in the town of Groton, a few miles southeasterly from Fort Griswold. This was the royal fortress, where the chief Sachem had his residence. He had another fort near Mystic river, a few miles to the eastward of this, called Mystic fort. The Pequots, Moheagans and Nehantics, could doubtless muster a thousand bowmen.”—

Trumbull's History of Connecticut, I. p. 42.

“The Mahiccanni,” says Mr. Heckewelder, “have been called by so many names, that I was at a loss which to adopt, so that the reader might know what people were meant. Lookiel calls them ‘Mohicans,’ which is nearest to their real name Mahiccanni, which, of course, I have adopted. The Dutch called them Mahicanders; the French Mourigans, and Mahingans; the English, Mohiccons, Mohuccans, Mohegans, Muhheekanew, Schaticooks, River Indians.”

They are called Muhhekaneews, by Dr. Edwards, in his “Observations” on their language, published at New-York, 1801. The old historians of New-England term them Moheags, Moheaks and Mohegins, &c. I have adopted in the text the mode of writing it which seemed most euphonious. These people were one of the most martial and important tribes of the great family to which the Delawares belonged, called Lenopi by Mr. Jefferson, in his “Notes on Virginia,” and Lenni Lenape, by Mr. Heckewelder. The latter author agrees with the venerable historian of Connecticut, as to the Mohicans being the same race with the Pequods.

I have thought it necessary to make the foregoing extracts, in relation to the people, who, after their decisive overthrow, mentioned in the text, always took part with the English against Philip. But as the events recapitulated in the fourth and six following stanzas, were merely premised, as explanatory of the allusions made in the poem, it is unnecessary to give much more than references to the authors who have recorded them.

The name of the Pequod Sagamore is thus written, without the diæresis, by the Rev. Mr. Hubbard. The accent is, however, placed on the first syllable, in a poem by Gov. Winthrop, preserved in the “Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.” “At Sassacus' dread name,” &c.

The Pequods quarrelled with the colonists at an early period of the settlement; and, after a hollow treaty of peace, which they entered into, in the year 1636, they protected certain of the Narragansetts who had murdered some of the English on Block-Island. This led to a war in the course of which the Narragansetts, with the versatile and jealous policy of Indian nations, made their own peace with the English, and refused to assist the Pequots. They appear, however, to have experienced some compunction when the Pequod fort was attacked by the English, on the 26th May, 1637; when, after a vigorous and desperate resistance by the savages, the fort was fired by Captain Mason's men, sixty or seventy wigwams burnt, and seven hundred of the miserable Pequods destroyed. The Narragansetts were mere spectators on this occasion. They either felt, or pretended, an unconquerable fear of Sassacus, whom they called invincible; saying, “he was all one god.” Uncas, Sachem of the Mohegans, who, as has been already mentioned, was in a state of revolt against the great Sagamore when the English first settled in Connecticut, was their guide to the fortress of his enemy; and ever after, with wary and more consistent policy than belonged to his brethren, adhered to the interests of his new allies. Sassacus fled to the Mohocks, (termed Mohogs and Maquas by the old historians,) who murdered him and sent his scalp to the conquerors.— See Trumbull's History of Connecticut, and the authorities there quoted; also Hubbard's Narrative of the troubles with the Indians, first published, by authority, at Boston, 1677. New-England's Memorial, Boston printed, Newport reprinted, 1777. Prince's Chronological History of New-England, Boston, 1736. Mather's Magnalia, Book VII. &c.

“The Paukanawkutts were a great people heretofore. They lived to the east and northeast of the Narragansitts; and their chief Sachem held dominion over divers other petty Sagamores, upon the island of Nantuckett, and Nope, or Martha's Vineyard, of Nawsett, of Mannamoyk, of Sawkattukett, Nobsquasitt, Matakees and several others, and some of the Nipmucks. Their country, for the most part, falls within the jurisdiction of New-Plymouth colony. This people were a potent nation in former times; and could raise, as the most credible and ancient Indians affirm, about three thousand men. They held war with the Narragansitts, &c. This nation, a very great number of them were swept away by an epidemical and unwonted sickness, An. 1612 and 1613, about seven or eight years before the English arrived in those parts, to settle the colony of New-Plimouth. Thereby Divine Providence made way for the peaceable and quiet settlement of the English in those nations. What this disease was, that so generally and mortally swept away, not only those, but other Indians, their neighbours, I cannot well learn. Doubtless it was some pestilential disease. I have discoursed with some old Indians, that were then youths; who say, that the bodies all over were exceeding yellow, describing it by a yellow garment they showed me, both before they died, and afterward.”—

Gookin.

Of this people, the Wampanoags, or Wampanoogs, &c. (as it is differently written,) seem to have been the immediate clan or family of old Massasoit or Massasoiet, or Woosamequen, the father of Metacom, or Metacomet, called King Philip by the English. The latter, however, signs his treaties, “Philip, Sachem of Pokanoket, his mark, P.”

“When Plimouth Colony was first planted, within three monettes after their first landing, March 16, 1620, Massasoit, the chief Sachem of all that side of the country, repaired to the English at Plymouth, and entred into a solemn League upon sundry Articles, printed in N. E. Memorial, 1669, p. 24. The words are as followeth,” &c.—

Hubbard, Old Edition 7. Edition of 1814, p. 56.

“The which League the same Sachim, Sept. 25, 1630, a little before his death, coming with his eldest son [Mooanam or Wamsutta] afterward called Alexander, did renew with the English at the Court of Plimouth, for himself and his Son, and their Heirs and Successors; and after that he came to Mr. Brown's, that lived not far from Mount Hope, bringing his two Sons, Alexander and Philip, with him, desiring that there might be Love and Amity after his death, between his Sons and them, as there had been betwixt himself and them in former times: yet it is very remarkable, that this Massasoit, called also Woosamequen (how much soever he affected the English, yet) was never in the least degree any wayes well affected to the religion of the English, but would have had them engaged never to attempt to draw away any of his people, from their old Pagan Superstition and devilish Idolatry,” &c.—

Idem.

“After the death of this Woosamequen or Massasoit, [about 1656,] his eldest son succeeded him about twenty years since, Alexander by name, who, notwithstanding the league he had entred into with the English, together with his father, in the year 1639, had neither affection to the Englishmen's persons, nor yet to their religion, but had been plotting with the Narhagansets to rise against the English of which the Governour and Council of Plimouth being informed, they presently sent for him to bring him to the Court; the person to whom that service was committed, was a prudent and resolute gentleman, the present Governour of the said Colony, who was neither afraid of danger, nor yet willing to delay in a matter of that moment. He forthwith, taking eight or ten stout men with him well armed, intended to have gone to the said Alexander's dwelling, distant at least forty miles from the Governour's house, but by a good providence he found him whom he went to seek at an Hunting House, within six miles of the English Towns, where the said Alexander, with about eighty men, were newly come in from hunting, and had left their guns without doors, which Major Winslow, with his small company, wisely seized, and conveyed away, and then went into the wigwam, and demanded Alexander to go along with him before the Governour, at which message he was much appalled, but being told by the undaunted Messenger, that if he stirrd or refused to go he was a dead man; he was by one of his chief Counsellors, in whose advise he most confided, perswaded to go along to the Governour's house, but such was the pride and height of his spirit, that the very surprizal of him, raised his choler and indignation, that it put him into a feaver, which, notwithstanding all possible means that could be used, seemed Mortal; whereupon intreating those that held him prisoner, that he might have liberty to return home, promising to return again if he recovered, and to send his son as hostage till he could do so; on that consideration he was fairly dismissed, but dyed before he got half way home.”—

Idem.

Our author then makes a sort of apology, for the treatment of Alexander. He says it was never urged as a casue of offence, by the said Alexander's brother, by name Philip, commonly for his ambitious and haughty spirit nicknamed King Philip. Nothing, he says, could have induced the said Philip to make war on the English, “besides the instigation of Satan, that either envied at the prosperity of the Church of God here seated, or else fearing lest the power of the Lord Jesus, that had overthrown his Kingdome in other parts of the World, should do the like here, and so the stone taken out of the Mountain without hands, should become a great mountain itself, and fill the whole earth, no cause of provocation being given by the English.”

Thus died, of a broken heart, the proud-spirited brother of Philip. Cotton Mather, who treats the Netops, as he calls them, with very little ceremony, condescends to mention, that “Alexander was treated with no other than that humanity and civility, which was always essential to the Major General; nevertheless, the inward fury of his own guilty and haughty mind threw him into such a fever as cost him his life.”

Magnalia. Book VII. Ecclesianum prœlia, or the wars of the Lord, p. 45. a. and b.

To him succeeded Metacom, or King Philip, Anno 1662; “who,” as the learned, but quaint, Annalist goes on to state, “after he had solemnly renewed his covenant of Peace with the English, most perfidiously broke it by making an attempt of war upon them in the year 1671, wherein being seasonably and effectually defeated, he humbly confessed his breach of covenant, and subscribed articles of submission, &c. Indeed, when the Duke of Archette, at his being made Governour of Antwerpe Castle, took an oath to keep it faithfully for King Philip of Spain; the officer that gave him his oath used these odd words, If you perform what you promise, God help you; if you do it not, the Devil take you body and soul! And all the standers by cried, Amen. But when the Indian King Philip took an oath to be faithful unto the Government of New-England no body used these words unto him; nevertheless, you shall anon see whether these words were not expressive enough of what became of him!”—

Idem, p. 45. b.

It would be too troublesome, as well as unnecessary, to give even a sketch of the life of Philip, up to the time when the Poem commences. A connected account of the Sachem's adventures may be found in Mather's Magnalia, Increase Mather's Brief History, &c. Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, vol. I. and Trumbull's History of Connecticut, vol. I. The following note in Holmes's American Annals, does justice to his character, and makes proper allowance for the measures taken by the English.

“The death of Philip, in retrospect, makes different impressions from what were made at the time of the event. It was then considered as the extinction of a virulent and implacable enemy; it is now viewed as the fall of a great warrior, a penetrating statesman, and a mighty prince. It then excited universal joy and congratulation, as a prelude to the close of a merciless war; it now awakens sober reflections on the instability of empire, the peculiar destiny of the aboriginal race, and the inscrutable decrees of Heaven. The patriotism of the man was then overlooked in the cruelty of the savage; and little allowance was made for the natural jealousy of the sovereign, on account of the barbarities of the warrior. Philip, in the progress of the English settlements, foresaw the loss of his territory, and the extinction of his tribe; and made one mighty effort to prevent those calamities. Our pity for his misfortunes would be still heightened, could we entirely rely on the tradition, (mentioned by Callender, 73.) that Philip and his chief old men, were at first averse to the war; that Philip wept with grief, at the news of the first English who were killed; and that he was pressed into these measures by the irresistible importunity of his young warriors. The assurance, on the other hand, of the equity of our ancestors, in giving the natives an equivalent for their lands, is highly consoling. The upright and pious Governor Winslow, in a letter dated at Marshfield, 1st May, 1676, observes: ‘I think I can clearly say, that before these present troubles broke out, the English did not possess one foot of land in this colony, but what was fairly obtained by honest purchase of the Indian proprietors. We first made a law, that none should purchase, or receive of gift, any land of the Indians, without the knowledge and allowance of our court. And lest yet they should be streightened, we ordered that Mount Hope, Pocasset, and several other necks of the best land in the colony, because most suitable and convenient for them, should never be bought out of their hands.’ See Hubbard's Narrative, (where this important letter is inserted entire,) and Hazard, Coll. ii. 531–534.”—

Holmes's American Annals, vol. I. p. 365.

Whatever wrongs Philip may have sustained during his life, from the arms and pens of his enemies, it seems that his shade will be fully propitiated in the present day. He will have Mr. Southey for his bard; and has already had Mr. Irving for his biographer. To those who have had occasion to examine the rude annals of the earlier settlers in the east, it must surely be a matter of admiration, to see with what facility and grace the author of Knickerbocker has extricated and made use of all the prominent and interesting particulars in the history of that period.

“Then she called for the Mount Hope men, who made a formidable appearance, with their faces painted, and their hair trimmed up in comb-fashion, with their powder-horns and shot-bags at their backs; which among that nation is the posture and figure of preparedness for war.” Thomas Church's “Entertaining History of King Philip's War, &c.” Boston, 1716. Newport, reprinted, 1772. By comb-fahion, is meant a crest, from the forehead to the back of the head. “The priests in Secota,” says Purchas, “haue their haire on the crowne like a combe, the rest being cut from it: only a foretop on their forehead is left, and that combe. They are great wisards.” Purchas' Pilgrim. Part 3d, p. 949. “Table 2. is an Indian man in his summer dress. The upper part of his hair is cut short, to make a ridge which stands up like the comb of a cock, the rest is either shorn off, or knotted behind his ear.” History of Virginia, Second edition, London, 1722; said in a manuscript note, in the copy belonging to the New-York Historical Library, to be by one Robert Beverly.

The author last mentioned calls the wampum beads peak; it is generally written peag. “The women of distinction,” says he “wear deep necklaces, pendants and bracelets, made of small cylinders of the Conque shell, which they call peak.” The white beads were made from the hollow of conchs; the purple, which were most prized, from muscle shells. They were strung on leather. Colden's History of the five Nations, Hickewelder, &c. And see a subsequent note to this Canto.

“It being now about sun-setting, or near the dusk of the evening, the Netops came running from all quarters loaden with the tops of dry pines, and the like combustible matter, making a huge pile thereof, near Mr. Church's shelter, on the open side thereof; but by this time supper was brought in, &c. but by the time supper was over, the mighty pile of pine knots and tops, &c. was fired, and all the Indians, great and small, gathered in a ring round it. Awashonks, with the oldest of her people, men and women mixed, kneeling down made the first ring next the fire, and all the lusty stout men standing up made the next, and then all the rabble in a confused crew surrounded on the out side. Then the chief Captain stepped in between the rings and the fire, with a spear in one hand, and a hatchet in the other, danced round the fire, and began to fight with it, making mention of all the several nations and companies of Indians in the country that were enemies to the English; and at naming of every tribe, he would draw out and fight a new fire-brand, and at finishing his fight with each particular fire-brand, would bow to him and thank him; and when he had named all the several nations and tribes, he stuck down his spear and hatchet, and came out, and another stept in and acted over the same dance, with more fury, if possible, than the first; and when about half a dozen of their chiefs had thus acted their parts, the captain of the guard stept up to Mr. Church and told him, “They were making soldiers for him,” &c. Church's History, p. 49, 50.

Weetamoe, the sunk squaw, or Squaw Sachem of the Pocassets, was a kinswoman of Philip. Captain Church was hard beset by her people, at the breaking out of the war. She is not to be confounded with Awashonks, Squaw Sachem of the Seaconets, who dwelt southerly from the Pocasset Indians.

“East of Connecticut were the Narraganset Indians: these were a numerous and powerful body. When the English settled Plymouth, their fighting men were reckoned at three or four thousand; fifty years after this time they were estimated at two thousand. The Pequots and Narragansets maintained perpetual war, and kept up an implacable animosity between them.” Trumbull, I. 43. This jealousy was a great source of safety to the English, both in the Pequot war, when they were joined by the Narragansets, and in the war with Philip, when the Pequods (or Mohegans) assisted them in exterminating the Narragansets. The Niantics or Nehantics, were a branch of the Narragansets who joined the English interest, under their Sachem Aganemo. For a further account of the Narragansets see Gookin.

“On the northeasterly and northern part of the colony, were the Nipmuch Indians. Their principal seat was about the great ponds in Oxford, in Massachusetts, but their territory extended southward into Connecticut, more than twenty miles.”— Trumbull, I. 43. These people are also called Nipnets by Hubbard; it has been already mentioned, that they were tributary to the Pawkanawkutts. The situation of all these tribes is thus briefly given by Hubbard. “The sea-coast, from the pitch of Cape Cod, to the mouth of Connecticut river, [was,] inhabited by several nations of Indians, Wampanoogs, (the first authors of the present rebellion,) Narragansetts, Pequods, Mohegins, as the more inland part of the country by the Nipnets (a general name for all inland Indians betwixt the Massachusetts and Connecticut river.”)

Sausaman was the son of Christian Indians, but apostatized, and became King Philip's secretary, who, as Dr. Mather sarcastically remarks, could not even read. A letter dictated by Philip, and written by Sausaman, is preserved in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. II. p. 40. Sausaman afterwards returned to the English, and became an instructor among the Indians. In the year 1674, he informed the Governor of Plymouth, that Philip was plotting with all the Indian nations, to destroy the English. Little notice was taken of this communication at first. But Sausaman was, soon after, found murdered on Assawamsett pond, at a place now called Middleborough, Massachusetts. When he was missed, the neighbours sought for and found the dead body, which had been put under a hole in the ice; but his hat and gun, being left, led to the discovery. “A jury was impanelled,” says C. Mather, “and it was remarkable, that one Tobias, a Counsellor of King Philip's, whom they suspected as the author of this murder, approaching to the dead body, it would still fall a bleeding afresh, as if it had been newly slain, &c. Afterwards an Indian, called Patuckson, gave in his testimony, that he saw this Tobias, with certain other Indians, killing of John Sausaman, &c. Hereupon Tobias, with two other Indians, being apprehended, they were, after a fair trial, by a jury consisting half of English, and half of Indians, convicted, and so condemned; and though they were all successively turned off the ladder at the gallows, utterly denying the fact, yet the last of them happening to break or slip the rope, did, before his going off the ladder again, confess that the other Indians did really murder John Sausaman, and that he was himself, though no actor in it, yet a looker on. Things began by this time to have an ominous aspect.”—

Math. Magnalia, VII. 46. a. See also Hubbard, new edit. 66–71. Church, 9. Increase Mather, 2. and the Postscript to the same; also the Postscript in the old edition of Hubbard, apologizing for the justness of the war, &c.

“Philip, conscious to his own guilt, pusht on the execution of his plot as fast as he could; he armed his men, and sent away their women, [to the Narragansets,] and entertained many strange Indians that flocked in unto him from several parts of the country, and began to be tumultuous.”—

C. Mather ubi supra.

Thus broke out King Philip's war, which terminated in almost the total extermination of his allies. Happily for the settlers, it commenced prematurely. The Sachem's plans were general, and deeply laid. The Narragansets had promised to rise with four thousand men, according to Hubbard. It is unnecessary to make any particular references on the miseries of war, alluded to in Stanza VII.

In the winter of 1675–6, the Commissioners of the United Colonies determined to attack the Narraganset fortress, situated near Pawcatuck river, “on an elevated ground, or piece of upland, of perhaps 3 or 4 acres, in the middle of a hedious swamp; about seven miles nearly due west from Narraganset south ferry.”— Church, 29. The following account of that tragical business is the most full and perspicuous.

“The next morning, (Dec. 19th,) at the dawning of the day, they commenced their march towards the enemy, who were in a swamp at about fifteen miles distance. The troops proceeded with great spirit, wading through the snow, in a severe season, until nearly one o'clock, without fire to warm or food to refresh them, except what had been taken on the way. At this time, they had arrived just upon the seat of the enemy. This was upon a rising ground, in the centre of a large swamp. It was fortified with palisades, and compassed with a hedge without, nearly of a rod's thickness. The only entrance which appeared practicable, was over a log, or tree, which lay up five or six feet from the ground. This opening was commanded in front by a kind of log house, and on the left by a flanker. As soon as the troops entered the skirts of the swamp, they discovered an advanced party of the enemy, upon whom they immediately fired. The enemy returned the fire, and retired before them, until they were led to the very entrance by the blockhouse. Without reconnoitering the fort, or waiting for the army to march up and form for the attack, the Massachusetts troops, led on by their officers, with great courage, mounted the tree and entered the fort: but they were so galled from the blockhouse, and received such a furious and well-directed fire from almost every quarter, that, after every exertion of skill and courage, of which they were capable, they were obliged to retreat out of the fort. The whole army pressed forward with the utmost courage and exertion, but such were the obstructions from the swamp and the snow, that it was a considerable time before the men could all be brought up to action. Captains Johnson and Davenport, and many brave men of the Massachusetts, were killed. The Connecticut troops, who formed in the rear, coming up to the charge, mounted over the log before the blockhouse, the Captains leading and spiriting up the men in the most undaunted manner. About the same time that the main body of the Connecticut troops were forcing their way by the blockhouse, a few bold men ran round to the opposite part of the fort, where they found a narrow spot where there were no palisades, but a high and thick hedge of trees and brush. The sharpness of the action in the front had drawn off the enemy from this part, and climbing over unobserved, they ran down between the wigwams, and poured a heavy and well-directed fire upon the backs of the enemy, who lay wholly exposed to their shot. Thus assaulted, in front and rear, they were driven from the flanker and blockhouse. The Captains crying out, they run, they run, the men pressed so furiously upon them, that they were forced from that part of the fort. The soldiers without rushed in, with great spirit, and the enemy were driven from one covert and hiding place to another, until the middle of the fort was gained; and after a long and bloody action, they were totally routed and fled into the wilderness. As they retired, the soldiers set fire to the wigwams, about six hundred of which were instantly consumed. The enemy's corn, stores, and utensils, with many of their old men, women, and children, perished in the conflagration. It was supposed, that three hundred warriors were slain, besides many wounded, who afterwards died of their wounds and with the cold. Nearly the same number were taken, with three hundred women and children. From the number of wigwams in the fort, it is probable that the whole number of the Indians was nearly four thousand. Those who were not killed in battle, or did not perish in the flames, fled to a cedar swamp, where they spent the night, without food, fire, or covering. It was, nevertheless, a dearly bought victory. Six brave Captains fell in the action, and eighty men were killed or mortally wounded. A hundred and fifty were wounded, who afterwards recovered. After the fatiguing march, and hard fought battle of three hours, in which the troops had been exercised, the army, just at the setting of the sun, having burnt and destroyed all in their power, left the enemy's ground, and, carrying about two hundred dead and wounded men, marched back, sixteen or eighteen miles, to head quarters. The night was very cold and stormy. The snow fell deep, and it was not until midnight, or after, that the army got in. Many of the wounded, who otherwise might have recovered, died with the cold,” &c.— Trumbull's History of Connecticut, Vol. I. pp. 338–340. See also Mather's Magnalia, 49, 50. Hubbard, 130–133. Increase Mather, 20. Captain Church was severely wounded in this action. “He was struck with three bullets, one on his thigh, which was near half cut off as it glanced on the joint of his hip bone; another through the gatherings of his breeches and drawers, with a small flesh wound; a third pierced his pockets, and wounded a pair of mittens, that he had borrowed of Captain Prentice; being wrapped up together had the misfortune of having many holes cut through them with one bullet; however, he made shift to keep on his legs,” &c.— Church, 27. This kind of defensive armour seems to have been not unusual in those chivalrous days. “Mr. Gill was struck with a musket ball on the side of his belly; but being clad with a buff coat, and some thickness of paper under it, it never broke his skin.”—

Church, 11.

The jealousies of the confederated Indians, among themselves, hastened their separation, and consequent destruction in detail. “This quarrel proceeded to that height, that from that time forward, those several Indians that had for so long a time been combined together, resolved now to part, and every one to shift for themselves, and return to their own homes; Philip to Mount Hope, and the Narragansetts to their own country again; the Nipnets and the River [Connecticut] Indians bending their course westward, others northward,” &c.—

Hubbard, 211. C. Mather says their demons deserted them. See Notes to Canto III.

Of the once powerful nation of the Narragansets, Mr. Hubbard, immediately after the war, says, “there is none of them left on that side of the country, unless some few, not exceeding seventy in number, that have sheltered themselves under the inhabitants of Rhode-Island, as a merchant of that place, worthy of credit, lately affirmed to the writer hereof. It is considered by what degrees they have been consumed and destroyed.”— Hubbard, New Ed. p. 158. Most of the persecuted tribes went westward, and were never heard of thereafter. Some settled among Moheagans, on the Hudson river. An incredible number were executed at different places.

“After this,” says Church, “Dartmouth's distresses required succour, great part of the town being laid desolate, and many of the inhabitants killed; the most of Plymouth forces were ordered thither; and coming to Russel's garrison at Ponoganset, they met with a number of the enemy that had surrendered themselves prisoners on terms promised by Captain Eels of the garrison, and Ralph Earl, who persuaded them (by a friend Indian he had employed) to come in. And had their promises to the Indians been kept, and the Indians fairly treated, it is probable that most, if not all the Indians in those forts had soon followed the example of the Indians who had now surrendered themselves; which would have been a good step towards finishing the war. But in spite of all that Captains Eels, Church, or Earl, could say, argue, plead, or beg, somebody else that had more power in their hands, improved it; and without any regard to the promises made them on their surrendering themselves, they were carried away to Plymouth, there sold, and transported out of the country, being about eight score persons.”

In another place, the narrator says, “They met the General, and presented him with 18 of the enemy they had captived. The General, pleased with the exploit, gave them thanks, particularly to Mr. Church, the mover and chief actor of the business, and sending two of them (likely boys) a present to Boston; smiling at Mr. Church told him, that he made no doubt his faculty would supply them with Indian boys enough before the war was ended.”

Again; “Captain Church hastening with his prisoners through the woods to Plymouth, disposed of them all, except only one Jeffery, who proved very ingenuous and faithful to him, in informing him where other parcels of Indians harboured,” &c. E.

Philip's uncle Uncompoën, sometimes called Uncomdaen, was slain July 31st, 1676, and his sister taken prisoner, at the same time. On the second of August, he narrowly escaped from Captain Church, leaving his peag, wife and son. His friends of any distinction among the other tribes, had been killed before, viz: Canonchet, Pomham, Matoonas, &c.

Among Philip's other hairbreadth deliverances, the following is recorded by Captain Church; it happened on Taunton river, near Bridgewater. “Next morning Captain Church moved very early with his company, which was increased by many of Bridgewater, that enlisted under him for that expedition, and by their piloting, soon came very still to the top of the great tree which the enemy had fallen across the river; and the captain spy'd an Indian sitting on the stump of it on the other side of the river, and he clapp'd his gun up, and had doubtless dispatched him, but that one of his own Indians called hastily to him not to fire, for he believed it was one of their own men; upon which the Indian upon the stump look'd about, and Captain Church's Indian seeing his face, perceived his mistake, for he knew him to be Philip, clapp'd up his gun and fired, but it was too late, for Philip immediately threw himself off the stump, leap'd down a bank on the side of the river, and made his escape.”—

Church, 62.

“Philip was now upon a little spot of upland, that was in the south end of the miry swamp, just at the foot of the mount, which was a spot of ground that Captain Church was well acquainted with.”—

Idem, 70.

“The Indians,” says C. Mather, “covered themselves with green boughs, a subtilty of the same nature, though not of the same colour, that they affirm to be used by the Cuttle fish.”

“The Counsellors of the Indian kings in New-England were termed the Paniese. These were not only the wisest, but largest and bravest men to be found among their subjects. They were the immediate guard of their respective Sachems, who made neither war nor peace, nor attempted any weighty affair, without their advice.” “These paniese, or ministers of state, were in league with the priests, or powaws. To keep the people in awe, they pretended, as well as the priests, to have converse with the invisible world, and that Hobbamock often appeared to them.”—

Trumbull.

“The moon now shining bright, he saw him [Annawon] at a distance coming with something in his hands, and coming up to Captain Church, he fell upon his knees before him, and offered him what he had brought, and speaking in plain English, said, Great Captain, you have killed Philip, and conquered his country; for I believe that I and my company are the last that war against the English, so suppose the war is ended by your means; and therefore these things belong unto you. Then opening his pack, he pulled out Philip's belt curiously wrought with wompom, being nine inches broad, wrought with black and white wompom, in various figures and flowers, and pictures of many birds and beasts. This, when hung upon Captain Church's shoulders, reached his ancles; and another belt of wompom he presented him with, wrought after the former manner, which Philip was wont to put upon his head; it had two flags on the back part, which hung down on his back; and another small belt with a star upon the end of it, which he used to hang on his breast; and they were all edged with red hair, which Annawon said they got in the Mohog's country. Then he pulled out two horns of glazed powder, and a red cloth blanket. He told Captain Church these were Philip's royalties, which he was wont to adorn himself with when he sat in state.”— Church, p. 84. I have seen a cape, made of feathers, said to have been Philip's, and a pouch of the same materials, at Brown College, in Providence. The Antiquarian Society in Rhode-Island profess, I believe, to have his skull.

I am well aware, that there is, properly, no such American animal; but it is a better sounding word, in poetry, than Cat of the Mountain, &c. I have also called a Couguar a Tiger, in the Sixth Canto, to avoid a repetition of the word.

“About thirty miles below the falls of St. Anthony, at which I arrived the tenth day after I left Lake Pepin, is a remarkable cave of an amazing depth. The Indians term it Wakon-teebe, that is, the Dwelling of the Great Spirit. The entrance into it is about ten feet wide, the height of it five feet. The arch within it is near fifteen feet high and about thirty feet broad. The bottom of it consists of fine clear sand. About twenty feet from the entrance begins a lake, the water of which is transparent, and extends to an unsearchable distance; for the darkness of the cave prevents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it. I threw a small pebble towards the interior parts of it with my utmost strength: I could hear that it fell into the water, and notwithstanding it was of so small a size, it caused an astonishing and horrible noise, that reverberated through all those gloomy regions. I found in this cave many Indian hieroglyphics, which appeared very ancient, for time had nearly covered them with moss, so that it was with difficulty I could trace them. They were cut in a rude manner, upon the inside of the walls, which were composed of a stone so extremely soft that it might easily be penetrated with a knife; a stone every where to be found near the Mississippi. The cave is only accessible by ascending a narrow steep passage, that lies near the brink of the river.”—

Carver's Travels, pp. 39, 40.

“Whither is that breath flown, which a few hours ago sent up smoke to the Great Spirit?”— Carver's Travels, p. 262. The usual Indian metaphors for war and peace, are generally known.— “Straight roads, smooth waters, clear sky, smoking the white calumet on a beaver blanket, under the tree of peace, the war kettle, &c. &c.” are terms familiar to all who have looked into Colden's History of the Five Nations, Carver's Travels, &c.—I have not, therefore, thought it needful to make any note on particular expressions of this description. The following list of metaphors is extracted from Heckewelder, and comprises, I believe, most of those employed in the text.

“‘The sky is overcast with dark blustering clouds.’ We shall have troublesome times; we shall have war.—‘A black cloud has arisen yonder.’ War is threatened from that quarter, or from that nation.—‘The path is already shut up.’ Hostilities have commenced. The war is begun.—‘The rivers run with blood.’ War rages in the country.—‘To bury the hatchet.’ To make, or conclude a peace.—‘To lay down the hatchet, or to slip the hatchet under the bedstead.’ To cease fighting for a while, during a truce; or, to place the hatchet at hand, so that it may be taken up again at a moment's warning.—‘The hatchet you gave me was very sharp.’ As you have satisfied me, I have done the same for you; I have killed many of your enemies.—‘Singing birds.’ Tale bearers— story tellers—liars.—‘Don't listen to the singing of the birds which fly by.’ Don't believe what stragglers tell you.—‘To kindle a council fire at such a place.’ To appoint a place where the national business is to be transacted; to establish the seat of government there.—‘I will place you under my wings.’ (Meaning under my arm pits.) I will protect you at all hazards. You shall be perfectly safe; nobody shall molest you.—‘Suffer no grass to grow on the war path.’ Carry on the war with vigour.—‘To open a path from one nation to another, by removing the logs, brush and briers out of the way.’ To invite the nation to which the path leads, to a friendly intercourse; to prepare the way to live on friendly terms with them.—‘I have covered yon spot with fresh earth; I have raked leaves, and planted trees thereon;’ means literally, I have hidden the grave from your eyes; and figuratively, ‘you must now be cheerful again!’—‘To bury deep in the earth.’ (An injury done.)—To consign it to oblivion.”—

Heckewelder, pp. 125, 126, 127, 128, 129.

“It is incredible to what a degree the superstitious belief in witchcraft operates on the mind of an Indian. The moment his imagination is struck with the idea he is bewitched, he is no longer himself. Of this extraordinary power of their conjurers, of the causes which produce it and the manner in which it is acquired, they have not a very definite idea. The sorcerer, they think, makes use of some deadening substance, which he conveys to the person he means to ‘strike,’ in a manner which they can neither understand nor describe. The person thus ‘stricken,’ is immediately seized with an unaccountable terror. His spirits sink, his appetite fails, he is disturbed in his sleep, he pines and wastes away, or a fit of sickness seizes him, and he dies at last, a miserable victim to the workings of his own imagination.”— Heckewelder, 229–231. See also Carver, Charlevoix, Bartram, Hearne, &c. referred to in Dr. Jarvis's Discourse on the Religion of the Indian tribes, &c. delivered before the N. Y. Historical Society, December 20, 1819. And see Notes to Canto IV. Dr. Jarvis, p. 51, takes notice of the mistake, made by Carver and others, in confounding the Jongleurs, or Jugglers, (in English,) with the Priests. The expression, Sorcerer, made use of in the text, alludes to the former order. I have generally, however, termed them Pow-wahs, and their brethren, who followed the more regular practice, Prophets. It is somewhat singular that Mr. Southey, in one of his ‘Songs of the North-American Indians,’ should put the French term Jongleur, in the mouth of a native.

“They believe, (the Chopewyans,) that immediately after their death, they pass into another world, where they arrive at a large river, on which they embark in a stone canoe, and that a gentle current bears them on to an extensive lake, in the centre of which is a most beautiful island; and that, in the view of this delightful abode, they receive that judgment for their conduct during life, which terminates their final state and unalterable allotment. If their good actions are declared to predominate, they are landed upon the island, where there is to be no end to their happiness; which, however, according to their notions, consists in an eternal enjoyment of sensual pleasure, and carnal gratification. But if their bad actions weigh down the balance, the stone canoe sinks at once, and leaves them up to their chins in the water, to behold and regret the reward enjoyed by the good, and eternally struggling, but with unavailing endeavours, to reach the blissful island, from which they are excluded for ever.”—

Mackensie's Voyages, p. 84, New-York Ed. 1802.

It is said in Bartram's travels, that the deer are enticed by the olive leaves.

“Les Chasseurs se rangent sur quatre Lignes, qui forment un très grand Quarré, et commencent par mettre le feu aux Herbes, qui sont séches alors, et fort hautes; puis, à mesure que le feu gagne, ils avancent en se reserrant. Les Bœufs, qui craignent extrêmement le feu, fuyent toujours, et se trouvent à la fin si serrés les uns contre les autres, qu'on les tuë ordinairement jusqu'au dernier.” “Quand il [le bœuf] est blessé, il est furieux, et se retourne sur les chasseurs.”—

Charlevoix, Tom. III. 131.

I know not if the quantity of this word be correct. Miantonimo was the chief Sachem of the Narragansets, and was defeated and taken prisoner, in a pitched battle with Uncas, who cut off his head and sent it to the English. They stuck it on a pole, in terrorum, Anno 1643. Canonchet was Miantonimo's son. He was captured in 1676 by the Connecticut forces, and their Indian confederates, the Mohegans, and Niantics, under their Sachem, old Ninigret. Canonchet was one of the most gallant chieftains of that day. A very interesting account, too long to be inserted, is given of his capture, in Hubbard, pp. 159–162. He was honourably shot by some Mohegans of his own rank. Mr. Irving has mentioned him in his life of Philip. Panoquin was the friend of Canonchet, and also a Sub-Sachem among the Narragansets.—

Hubbard. Mather's Magnalia. Increase Mather, &c.

“But on whatever occasion they [the Indians' mounds] may have been made, they are of considerable notoriety among the Indians: for a party passing, about thirty years ago, through the part of the country where this barrow is, went through the woods directly to it, without any instructions or inquiry; and having staid about it for some time, with expressions which were construed to be those of sorrow, they returned to the high road, which they had left about half a dozen miles to pay this visit, and pursued their journey.”—

Jefferson's Notes, pp. 161, 162.

“Il paroît, Madame, que dans ces Chansons on invoque le dieu de la guerre, que les Hurons appellent Areskoui et les Iroquois Agreskoué. Je ne sçai pas quel nom ou lui donne dans les Langues Algonquines.” “L'Areskoui” des Hurons et l'Agreskoué des Iroquois est dans l'opinion de ces peuples le Souverain Etre, et le Dieu de la Guerre.”— Charlevoix, III. 207–344. I do not know, any better than Father Charlevoix, the name of the war-god among the Lenapé; but find a totally different word for the verb to make war, which, in the Iroquois, is derived from the name of the deity. The New-England Indians, I believe, had no such person in their mythology. The word is, therefore, improperly put in King Philip's mouth. Mr. Campbell writes it Ariouski, in “Gertrude of Wyoming.”

“I observed that the main body of the Fox river came from the southwest, that of the Ouisconsin from the northeast. That two such rivers should take their rise so near each other, and after running different courses, empty themselves into the sea, at a distance so amazing, (for the former having passed through several great lakes, and run upwards of two thousand miles, falls into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the other, after joining the Mississippi, and having run an equal number of miles, disembogues itself into the Gulf of Mexico,) is an instance scarcely to be met in the extensive continent of North-America. I had an opportunity the year following, of making the same observations on the affinity of various head branches of the waters of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi [which] in some places approached so near that I could have stepped from the one to the other.”—

Carver's Travels, p. 28.

“They will not suffer any belonging to them to fetch such things as are necessary, even fire, from these retreats, though the want is attended with the greatest inconvenience. They are also so superstitious as to think, if a pipe stem cracks, which among them is made of wood, that the possessor has lighted it at one of these polluted fires,” &c.— Carver's Travels, 152. This alludes to a particular custom, to which the simile in the text has no reference. See, also, for that custom, Adair's History of the North-American Indians. M'Kenzie's History of the Fur Trade, p. 87. Star in the West, by Dr. Boudinot, &c. and the Notes to Canto IV.

“The Indians say that when the leaf of the white oak, which puts forth in the spring, is of the size of the ear of a mouse, it is time to plant corn; they observe that now the whipperwill has arrived, and is continually hovering over them, calling out his Indian name ‘Wekolis,’ in order to remind them of the planting time, ‘Hackihack!’ go to planting corn!”— Heckewelder, p. 305. Carver, mentioning the same circumstance, says the Indians term the bird “Muckawiss.”—p. 310.

The mortality among the Indians, previous to the coming of the English, has been mentioned before, in the note from Gookin, on the Pawkanawkutts. And see Notes to Canto III.

This was the name given to the English by the Indians. Thus, when the enemy approached Mystic Fort, the sentry of the Pequods cried out O wanux! O wanux! or, as C. Mather has it, Wannux! Wannux!—

Magnalia, VII. 42.

Is, I perceive, borrowed from Young,—

The melancholy ghosts of dead renown,
All point to earth, and hiss at human pride!

“One house, one fire, and one canoe, is to say that they constituted together one people, one family.”—

Heckewelder, 79.

I transcribed these lines hastily, without referring to their precise allusion. The second line may be stricken out, without injuring the sense of the passage. Those, however, who are disposed to be captious, are perfectly welcome to all the blunders I may have committed, here and elsewhere.

“I had like to have omitted a very extraordinary circumstance, relative to these straights, (Michillimackinack.) According to observation, made by the French, whilst they were in possession of the fort, although there is no diurnal flood or ebb to be perceived in these waters, yet, from an exact attention to their state, a periodical alteration in them has been discovered. It was observed that they rose by gradual, but almost imperceptible degrees, till they had reached the height of about three feet. This was accomplished in seven years and a half; and in the same space they as gently decreased, till they had reached their former situation; so that in fifteen years they had completed this inexplicable revolution.”—

Carver, p. 92.

“He,” the Prophet, “likewise told me, that departed souls always went southward; and that the difference between the good and bad was this—that the former were admitted into a beautiful town, with spiritual walls, or walls agreeable to the nature of souls; and that the latter would for ever hover round those walls, and in vain attempt to get in,” &c.—

Diary of David Brainerd. E. See also Carver, p. 251. M'Kenzie, &c. &c.

Cotton Mather thus pathetically laments the introduction of firearms among the Indians. “After this the Land rested from War for forty Years together, even until the Sins of the Land called for a new Scourge; and the Indians by being taught the Use of Guns, which hitherto they had not learnt, were more capable to be made the Instruments of inflicting it. The English Interest in America must at last, with Bleeding Lamentations, cry out Heu! patior telis vulnera facta meis. For after this, the Auri sacra Fames, that cursed Hunger of Lucre, in the diverse Nations of Europeans here, in diverse Colonies bordering upon one another, soon furnished the Savages with Tools to destroy those that furnish'd them;—Tools pregnant with infernal flame,” &c.— Magnalia, VII. 44. The Dutch sold great quantities of fire arms to the Indians.

This mode of expression is, I believe, improper for an Indian. The author last quoted has this curious remark, speaking of the destruction of the Pequod Fort. “When they came to see the ashes of their friends mingled with the ashes of the fort, and the Bodies of so many of their Country terribly Barbikew'd, where the English had been doing a good morning's work, they Howl'd, they Roar'd, they stamp'd, they tore their hair; and though they did not Swear, (for they knew not how!) yet they Curs'd, and were the Pictures of so many Devils in Desperation.”—

Magnalia, VII. 43.

The Indians in the western parts of Connecticut, were tributary to the Mohawks. The cry of “a Mohawk! a Mohawk!” struck them with universal panic. The Mohawks announced their coming by the shout, “We are coming, we are coming, to suck your blood!” See Colden's History, vol. I. p. 3. and Trumbull, p. 56. These conquerors made a descent upon Philip's confederates, during this war, and destroyed numbers of them. See the Notes to Canto III.

See a Note to Canto V.

See a subsequent Note to this Canto.

“The Indians esteem the old year's fire, as a most dangerous pollution, regarding only the supposed holy fire, which the Archimagus annually renews for the people.”—

Adair, p. 22.

“The Cheerake Indians have a pointed proverbial expression, signifying ‘The great hawk is at home.’”—

Adair, p. 17. speaking of the Indian contempt of avarice.

The following extracts relate to what some writers call “making black boys,” and Mr. Heckewelder, “the initiation of boys.” See the Notes to Dr. Jarvis's discourse; and to the fourth Canto.

“I do not know how to give a better name (initiation of boys) to a superstitious practice which is very common among the Indians, and, indeed, is universal among those nations that I have become acquainted with. By certain methods which I shall presently describe, they put the mind of a boy in a state of perturbation, so as to excite dreams and visions; by means of which they pretend that the boy receives instructions from certain spirits or unknown agents as to his conduct in life, that he is informed of his future destination and of the wonders he is to perform in his future career throughout the world.

“When a boy is to be thus initiated, he is put under an alternate course of physic and fasting, either taking no food whatever, or swallowing the most powerful and nauseous medicines, and occasionally he is made to drink decoctions of an intoxicating nature, until his mind becomes sufficiently bewildered, so that he sees or fancies that he sees visions, and has extraordinary dreams, for which, of course, he has been prepared beforehand. He will fancy himself flying through the air, walking under ground, stepping from one ridge or hill to the other across the valley beneath, fighting and conquering giants and monsters, and defeating whole hosts by his single arm. Then he has interviews with the Mannitto, or with spirits, who inform him of what he was before he was born, and what he will be after his death. His fate in this life is laid entirely open before him, the spirit tells him what is to be his future employment, whether he will be a valiant warrior, a mighty hunter, a doctor, a conjurer, or a prophet. There are even those who learn, or pretend to learn, in this way, the time and manner of their death.

“When a boy has been thus initiated, a name is given to him analogous to the visions that he has seen, and to the destiny that is supposed to be prepared for him. The boy, imagining all that happened to him while under perturbation to have been real, sets out in the world with lofty notions of himself, and animated with courage for the most desperate undertakings. They could always cite numerous instances of valiant men, who, in former times, in consequence of such dreams, had boldly attacked their enemy with nothing but the Tamahican in their hand, had not looked about to survey the number of their opponents, but had gone straight forward, striking all down before them.”— Heckewelder, pp. 238–9.

The extract which follows, is, perhaps, as satisfactory an explanation of this singular custom, as any that has been given since the author's time. The same, or similar rites, being used by the Indians of the north, probably gave occasion to the same superstition among the settlers there, as was entertained by those of the south; namely, that the savages sacrificed their children to Moloch, or the Devil.

“The Indians have their altars and places of sacrifice. Some say, they now and then sacrifice young children: But they deny it, and assure us, that when they withdraw their children, it is not to sacrifice them, but to consecrate them to the service of their God. Smith tells of one of these Sacrifices in his time, from the Testimony of some People, who had been Eye-witnesses. His Words are these.” Here follows a quotation from Smith, referred to in the Notes to Dr. Jarvis's Discourse. He then proceeds; “I take this story of Smith's to be only an Example of Huskanawing, which being a ceremony then altogether unknown to him, he might easily mistake some of the Circumstances of it.

“The solemnity of Huskanawing is commonly practis'd once every fourteen or sixteen years, or oftner, as their young Men happen to grow up. It is an Institution or Discipline which all young Men must pass, before they can be admitted to be of the Number of the great Men, Officers, or Cockarouses of the Nation; whereas by Captain Smith's Relation, they were only set apart to supply the Priesthood. The whole ceremony of Huskanawing is performed after the following manner.

“The choicest and briskest young Men of the Town, and such only as have acquired some Treasure by their Travels and Hunting, are chosen out by the Rulers to be Huskanawed; and whoever refuses to undergo this Process, dares not remain among them. Several of those odd preparatory Fopperies are premis'd in the Beginning, which have been before related; but the principal Part of the Business is, to carry them into the Woods, and there keep them under Confinement, and destitute of all Society, for several Months; giving them no other Sustenance, but the Infusion or Decoction of some poisonous, intoxicating Roots; by virtue of which Physick, and by the severity of the Discipline which they undergo, they become stark staring Mad: In which raving Condition they are kept eighteen or twenty Days. During these Extremities, they are shut up, Night and Day, in a strong Inclosure, made on Purpose, one of which I saw, belonging to the Pamaunkie Indians, in the Year 1694. It was in Shape like a Sugar-loaf, and every way open like a lattice, for the air to pass through. In this Cage, thirteen young men had been Huskanaw'd, and had not been a Month set at liberty when I saw it. Upon this Occasion it is pretended, that these poor Creatures drink so much of that Water of Lethe, that they perfectly lose the Remembrance of all former Things, even of their Parents, their Treasure, and their Language. When the Doctors find that they have drank sufficiently of the Wysoccan, (so they call this mad Potion,) they gradually restore them to their senses again, by lessening the Intoxication of their Diet; but before they are perfectly well, they bring them back into their Towns, while they are still wild and crazy, through the Violence of the Medicine. After this they are very fearful of discovering any thing of their former Remembrance; for if such a thing should happen to any of them, they must immediately be Huskanaw'd again. Thus they unlive their former Lives, and commence Men, by forgetting that they ever have been Boys. The Indians pretend that this violent Method of taking away the Memory, is to release the Youth from all their childish Impressions, and from that strong Partiality to Persons and Things which is contracted before Reason comes to take place.”—

History of Virginia, pp. 175, 176, 177, 178, 179.

“One thing,” says Dr. Mather, “which emboldened King Philip in all his Outrages, was an assurance which his Magicians, consulting their Oracles, gave him, that no Englishman should ever kill him; and indeed if any Englishman might have had the Honour of Killing him, he must have had a good measure of Grace to have repressed the Vanity of Mind whereto he would have had some Temptations. But this will not extend the Life of that Bloody and Crafty Wretch above half his days!”—

Magnalia, vii. p. 54.

A word euphonized by my deceased friend, I believe, from some more uncouth name. All the letters, however, belong to the alphabet of these Indians. The rude sound of the Indian names was distressing to the writers of Philip's age, as appears from several remarks of Mather, and others. The author of some verses, meant to be complimentary, prefixed to Hubbard's Narrative, calls them,

“Names uncouth which near Minshew could reduce,
By's Pollyglotton to the vulgar use.”

With all due deference, however, the appellations of many of these chieftains, particularly in the vicinity of Narraganset bay, if connected with classical associations, would seem full as sonorous as the names of the ancient heroes.

See notes to Cantos III. and IV.