which hath also suffered somewhat by the fury of this flame, though not considerable to what the other colonies have undergone."-Ibid.

the Narhagonsets.]

"Ir hath already been declared what hath been done for the security of the Narhagonsets: those that were sent as messengers on that errand, always reported, that the elder people were, in appearance, not only inclinable to peace, but very desirous thereunto, insomuch as the two elder Sachems expressed much joy when it was concluded. But, as since hath happened, all this was but to gain time, and cover their treacherous intents and purposes, that they might, in the next spring, fall upon the English plantation all at once, as some prisoners lately brought in hath confessed, nor have any of these Indians, with whom the present war hath been, ever regarded any agreement of peace made with the English, further than out of necessity or slavish fear, they were compelled thereunto, as may be seen by the records of the colonies, from the year 1643, to the present time, notwithstanding their fair pretences, for Ninigret, the old Sachem of the Narhagonset, who alone, of all that country Sachems, disowned the present war, and refused to have any hand therein; yet was it proved to his face, before the commissioners, in the year 1646 and 1647, that he had threatened they would carry on the war against the Mohegins, whatever was the mind of the commissioners, and that they would kill the English cattle, and heap them up as high as their wigwams, and that an Englishman should not stir out of his door to p―s, but they would kill him; all which they could not deny; yet did this old fox make many promises of peace, when the dread of the English, ever since the Pequod war, moved them thereunto, foreseeing, as he is said to have told his neighbours, that they would

reason it would have been very difficult, if possible, for the English to have saved any of their inland plantations from being utterly destroyed.

"Thus hath God, in his wisdom, suffered so much of the rage of the heathen to be let loose against his people here, as to become a scourge unto them, that by the wrath of men, praise might be yielded to his holy name; yet hath he, in his abundant goodness, restrained the remainder, that it should not consume."—Ibid.

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[The Burning of Springfield.]

THE Indians gathered together in those parts, appearing so numerous, and as might justly be supposed, growing more confident by some of their best successes, and the number of our men being after this sad rate diminished; recruits also not being suddenly to be expected, at so great a distance as an hundred miles from all supplies, the commander in chief, with his officers, saw a necessity of slighting that garrison at Dearfield, employing the forces they had to secure and strengthen the three next towns below upon Connecticut river. And it was well that counsel was thought upon; for now those wretched caitiffs began to talk of great matters, hoping that by degrees they might destroy all the towns thereabout, as they had already begun.

"Their hopes, no doubt, were not a little heightened by the accession of Springfield Indians to their party, who had, in appearance, all this time stood the firmest to the interest of the English, of all the rest in those parts; but they all hanging together, like serpents' eggs, were easily persuaded to join with those of Hadley, (there being

"The inhabitants of Springfield were not insensible of their danger, and therefore had, upon the first breaking out of these troubles, been treating with these Indians, and had received from them the firmest assurances and pledges of their friendship and faithfulness that could be imagined or desired, both by covenant, promises, and hostages given for security; so as no doubt was left in any of their minds. Yet did these faithless and ungrateful monsters plot with Phi- | lip's Indians to burn or destroy all Springfield, as they had done Brookfield. To that end they sent cunningly, and enticed away from Hartford, where they were, perhaps, too securely watched the day or two before: then receiving above three of Philip's Indians into their fort, privately in the nighttime, so as they were neither discerned nor suspected, yea, so confident were such of the inhabitants as were most conversant with the Indians at their fort, that they would not believe there was any such plot in hand, when it was strangely revealed by one Toto, an Indian at Windsor, better affected to the English, (about eighteen or twenty leagues below Springfield, upon the same river,) and so by post, tidings thereof came to Springfield the night before, insomuch that the lieutenant of the town, Cooper by name, was so far from believing the stratagem, that in the morning, himself with another would venture to ride up to the fort, to see whether things were so or no. The fort was about a mile from the town. When he came within a little thereof, he met with these bloody and deceitful monsters, newly issued out of their Equus Trojanus, to act their intended mischief; they presently fixed upon him, divers of them, and shot him in several places through the body; yet being a man of stout

"The poor people, having no officer to guide them, being like sheep ready for slaughter, and no doubt the whole town had been entirely destroyed, but that a report of the plot being sent over night, Major Treal came from Westfield time enough in a manner for a rescue, but wanting boats for his men, could not do as much good as he desired. Major Pinchon coming from Hadley, with Captain Appleton and what forces they could bring along with them, thirty-two houses being first consumed, preserved the rest of the town from being into ashes, in which the over-credulous inhabitants might now see, (what before they would not believe, at the burning Major Pinchon's barns and stables, a few days before, to a great damage of the owner,) the faithless and deceitful friendship of these perfidious, cruel, and hellish monsters.

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Amongst the ruins of the said dwellings, the saddest to behold was the house of Mr. Pelatiah Glover, minister of the town, furnished with a brave library, which he had but newly brought back from a garrison where it had been for some time before secured; but as if the danger had been over with them, the said minister, a great student, brought them back, to his great sorrow, fit for a bonfire for the proud insulting enemy. Of all the mischiefs done by the said enemy before that day, the burning of this town of Springfield did more than any other discover the said actors to be children of the devil, full of all subtlety and malice, there having been, for forty years, so good correspondence between them, i. e. the English of that town and the neighbouring Indians; but in them is made good what is said in the psalm, that though their words were smoother than oyl, yet were their swords drawn.'” — Ibid.

[Aleutian Islanders and the Sea-Dog, or

Phoca-Vitulina.]

"THE sea-dog, Phoca-vitulina. This animal indeed forms such an essential article to the subsistence of the Aleutians in a variety of ways, that it may truly be said they would not know how to live without it. Of its skin they make cloths, carpets, thongs, shoes, many household utensils; nay, their canoes are made of a wooden skeleton with the skin of the sea-dog stretched over it. The flesh is eaten, and of the fat an oil is made, which, besides being used as an article of nourishment, serves to warm and light their huts. The esophagus is used for making breeches and boots, and the large blown-up paunch serves as a vessel for storing up liquors of all kinds. Of the entrails are made garments to defend them against the rain, and they also serve instead of glass to admit light into the habitations; the bristles of the beard are used like ostrich feathers in Europe, as ornaments for the head: there is consequently no part of the

animal that is not turned to some use. The fat of the whale is another favorite species of food among the Aleutians. These monsters are sometimes killed by them, but are more frequently thrown on shore by the sea. When this fat grows old and rancid, it serves equally with that of the sea-dog to light and warm the houses.” - ANNE PLUMPTRE'S Langsdorff, vol. 2, p. 34.

[Sea-Dog Mackintoshes.]

"To a nation which depends so much upon the sea for its sustenance, and which is situated in such a damp and rainy climate, the possession of a sort of cloathing which shall be proof against water is a point of the utmost importance, and necessity is the mother of all invention, and to her these islanders are most probably indebted for their Kamluka, or rain garment. This is made of the entrails of the sea-dog, which in quality have a great resemblance to blad

ders; they are only three inches broad, but are sewed together with so much ingenuity, that though ornamented with goats' hair or small feathers, the water never penetrates through the seams. At the back part of the collar is a cape or hood, which in a heavy rain or storm is drawn over the head, and tied fast under the chin; the sleeve is fastened close round the waist. Thus clothed, any one may be out for a whole day in the heaviest rain without finding any inconvenience, or being wetted in the slightest degree."—Ibid. p. 37.

[Labour Question:-Use of the Quern or Stones for the grinding of Corn.] "THE most laborious employment, which is grinding the corn, is left almost entirely to the women: it is rubbed between two

quadrangular oblong stones till ground to meal; the bread made of it is very white, but hard and heavy. The excellent and friendly La Perouse, with a view to lessening the labour, left a hand-mill here, but it was no longer in existence, nor had any use been made of it as a model from which to manufacture others. When we consider that there is no country in the world where windmills are more numerous than in Spain, it seems incomprehensible why these very useful machines have never been introduced here; I learnt, however, that in preferring the very indifferent meal produced by the mode of grinding abovementioned, the good fathers are actuated by political motives. As they have more men and women under their care than they could keep constantly employed the whole year, if labour were too much facilitated, they are afraid of making them idle by the introduction of mills."-Ibid. p. 169. S. Francisco, N. California.

[Indian Fire Eaters.]

"ANOTHER party of the Indians were dancing round a large fire, from which seve

ral of them, from time to time, apparently for their pleasure, took a piece of glowing ember as big as a walnut, which, without further ceremony, they put into their mouths and swallowed. This was no deception. I observed them very closely, and saw it performed repeatedly, though it is utterly incomprehensible to me how it could be done without burning their mouths and stomachs: instead of being a matter of pleasure, I should have conceived that they must be putting themselves to exquisite torture."N. California, Ibid. p. 197.

[Phosphoric Properties of the Urine of the Viverra Putorius.]

THE urine of the Viverra Putorius, with which it defends itself, and which is said to exceed all imaginable stinks, is exceedingly phosphoric, and, if put into a glass, retains the phosphoric appearance a very long time.-Ibid. p. 213.

[Moulting Time.]

On the way from Oonalashka to Kamschatka, Langsdorff sometimes saw a considerable track of sea strewed over with feathers probably it was the moulting time of the numberless birds who inhabit these regions. Ibid. p. 246.

[Uses to which the Birch Tree Bark is
applied.]

"I was particularly struck with the great variety of uses to which the bark of the birch tree is put among these people. Besides being used to cover their boats and houses, they make of it drinking-cups, milkpails, and vessels for carrying water: the divisions in the inside of the houses are also made of bark; it is even converted into screens and curtains for the bed, which are ornamented in various ways. I was shewn

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some of this bark embroidered with horsehair, upon which a Jakutschian woman had been occupying herself for a whole year. To make the bark more durable as well as pliable, so that it may be sewn together, it must lie for a whole day in water that has been boiled, or perhaps must be prepared still further; but of this I could not make myself sure; and the Jakutschians assured me, that when it has undergone this process, it will last sixty or seventy years. A carpet, or hangings for the wall, or bed furniture, of this work, are handed down from one generation to another as family inheritances."-Ibid. p. 358.

[Sand Cherries.]

"NEAR the borders of the lake grow a great number of Sand Cherries, which are

not less remarkable for their manner of

growth than for their exquisite flavour. They grow upon a small shrub not more than four feet high, the boughs of which are so loaded that they lie in clusters on the sand. As they grow only on the sand, the warmth of which probably contributes to bring them to such perfection, they are called by the French Cerises de Sable, or Sand Cherries. The size of them does not

exceed that of a small musket ball, but they are reckoned superior to any other sort for the purpose of steeping in spirits."—JONATHAN CARVER, Travels, &c. p. 30.

growth, is of a fine scarlet colour, and appears very beautiful; but as it grows older, it changes into a mixture of grey and red. The stalks of this shrub grow many of them together, and rise to the height of six or eight feet, the largest not exceeding an inch diameter. The bark being scraped from the sticks, and dried and powdered, is also mixed by the Indians with their tobacco, and is held by them in the highest estimation for their winter smoking. A weed that grows near the great lakes, in rocky places, they use in the summer season. It is called by the Indians Segockimac, and creeps like a vine on the ground, sometimes extending to eight or ten feet, and bearing a leaf about the size of a silver penny, nearly round; it is of the substance and colour of the laurel, and is, like the tree it resembles, an evergreen. These leaves, dried and powdered, they likewise mix with their tobacco; and, as said before, smoke it only during the summer. By these three succedaneums the pipes of the Indians are well supplied through every season of the year; and, as they are great smokers, they are very careful in properly gathering and preparing them."—Ibid. p. 30.

[Question of Indian Entrenchments and Fortifications.]

"ONE day having landed on the shore of the Mississippi, some miles below the Lake Pepin, whilst my attendants were preparing my dinner, I walked out to take a view of the adjacent country. I had not proceeded far before I came to a fine level, open plain, on which I perceived at a little distance a partial elevation, that had the appearance of an intrenchment. On a nearer inspection I had greater reason to suppose that it had really been intended for this many centuries ago. Notwithstanding it was now covered with grass, I could plainly discern that it had once been a breast-work of about four feet in height, extending the best part of a mile, and sufficiently capacious to cover five

thousand men. Its form was somewhat circular, and its flanks reached to the river. Though much defaced by time, every angle was distinguishable, and appeared as regular and fashioned with as much military skill as if planned by Vauban himself. The ditch was not visible, but I thought on examining more curiously, that I could perceive there certainly had been one. From its situation also, I am convinced that it must have been designed for this purpose. It fronted the country, and the rear was covered by the river; nor was there any rising ground for a considerable way that commanded it; a few straggling oaks were alone to be seen near it. In many places small tracks were worn across it by the feet of the elks and deer, and from the depth of the bed of earth by which it was covered, I was able to draw certain conclusions of its great antiquity. I examined all the angles and every part with great attention, and have often blamed myself since, for not encamping on the spot and drawing an exact plan of it. To shew that this description is not the offspring of a heated imagination, or the chimerical tale of a mistaken traveller, I find on enquiry, since my return, that Mons. St. Pierre and several traders have, at different times, taken notice of similar appearances, on which they have formed the same conjectures, but without examining them so minutely as I did. How a work of this kind exists in a country that has hitherto (according to the general received opinion) been the seat of war to untutored Indians alone, whose whole stock of military knowledge has only, till within two centuries, amounted to drawing the bow, and whose only breastwork, even at present, is the thicket, I know not. I have given as exact an account as possible of this singular appearance, and leave to future explorers of these distant regions to discover whether it is a production of nature or art. Perhaps the hints I have here given might lead to a more perfect investigation of it, and give us very different ideas of the ancient state of realms that we at present believe to have been