This celebrated personage was born in Frederick county, Md., in 1763. At the age of thirteen he joined the British army at Philadelphia, and soon obtained a commission.

was afterwards dismissed from the service at Pensacola. He then entered the service of the Creek Indians, and married one of this tribe.

On May 9, 1871, when Pensacola surrendered to the Spaniards, Bowles commanded the Creek Indians, whom he had brought there to assist the English.

After the war he joined a company of players at New York; played at the Bahamas, where he also painted portraits. Gov. Dunmore appointed him trading agent for the Creeks. He established a house upon the Chattahoochee, but was driven thence by McGillivray. He was entrapped by the Spaniards in 1792, sent a prisoner to Madrid, and thence to Manila, in 1795. He escaped and returned to the Creeks, but was again betrayed into the hands of the Spaniards, and died in Moro Castle, December 23, 1805.

The following article I have translated from a French book, published in Paris, 1807, and being the description, by C. C. Robin, of his travels in Louisiana and Florida during the years 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806.

At the time the author wrote, Bowles-or to use his spelling, Bawles-was still living, or, if dead, the writer had no knowledge of the fact:

"An Englishman named Bawles, who, in England, had been Lieutenant of a company of Grenadiers, had gone to the Isle of Providence, an English colony. During a somewhat extended sojourn in this isiand he became acquainted with the considerable commerce in skins carried on in Western Florida by the privileged firm, one of whose houses, as I have said, is located at Providence. Bawles wished to inform himself upon the ground in regard to the extent of this commerce, and to participate in it. Whether this idea had been suggested to him in England by the agents of that government, or whether he really conceived it only while in Providence, the fact is that he left this island for Florida, with some articles of trade. He soon formed intimate relations with the savages, and became, welcome among them. Bawles, tall and finely formed, joins to a martial air a face open and agreeable; with genius and a cultivated mind, he is enterprising and audacious; affable and supple, he is able to accommodate himself without difficulty to whatever conditions circumstances may exact; generous, magnificent, ostentatious when necessary, he can yet easily adapt himself to simple, austere, and savage manners.

"Bawles, in the beginning, trading with the Indians, soon became their friend and companion by conforming to their habits. speaking their language, presiding over their hunting parties, and participating in their festivals. Like them he went naked, with a simple braquet around the waist and mitarres on the feet, slept upon the ground, lived on corn cooked in water, and dried meat. In the midst of this kind of life, Bawles, who had been reared in the refinement of Europe, prepared among the Indian nations a general insurrection against the Spaniards. He exchanged the different commodities brought by him at prices much lower than those charged by the Pensacola firm, and promised to furnish them in the future in greater abundance; above all, he was lenient in the matter of credit, a bait always seductive to savages. Thus he alienated them more and more from the Spaniards. 'These greedy despots,' he unceasingly repeated to them, 'gather all the profits of your hunting labors, and leave you poor in order to reduce you to utter slavery. The magazines which they have established in your different villages are only rich because they get your skins at a low price, and overcharge you with impunity for what you need, since you can nowhere else procure

these things.' The savages, whom he thus inflamed, wished to proceed at once to the pillage of the magazines. But Bawles, too politic to tolerate such dangerous examples, took a middle course. He rated the commodities of these magazines at a price equal to the objects sold by him. By this appearance of justice he rendered the Pensacola firm unable to continue the payment. of its subsidies to the government of Spain and its agents, broke all commercial relations between the savages and the Spaniards, fomented the hatred of the Indians against the latter, opened more and more to England the exclusive trade of these countries, and organized a general insurrection, which, combined with the war of England against France, facilitated to the English the conquest of all the Floridas.

"In these circumstances each tribe of savages eagerly sought the friendship of Bawles, and soon all of them emulously elected him their chief. Bawles, then, without departing from his frugal mode of life, displayed at their head the pomp of a great general, decked himself out with rich plumes, brilliant arms, which he also distributed to his warriors in accordance with the rank assigned to them, introduced among them elements of subordination, and constrained them to rules of discipline.

"Hostilities commenced. Bawles had now sufficient authority. to repress in the savages that greed for blood and pillage, which, among them, characterizes their exploits; he prevented them from killing the enemies who begged quarter; released all those who were not soldiers, and acted towards all alike with great humanity, the wounded being carefully treated. This treatment was limited to sucking the wounds and washing them with fresh water, which was introduced into their sinuosities by means of tubes, then various simple remedies were applied. The physicians accompanied these operations with invocations, the tracing of mysterious figures and assumed an appearance of inspiration. It is certain that these suckings, fomentations and application of plants cured very promptly. I have seen, at Pensacola, persons whose wounds had been treated by them, perfectly cured, whilst others wounded at the same time and more grievously, were only cured a long time afterwards, although treated according to European methods.

"These hostilities spread consternation throughout all Florida, and the government was in great anxiety. The enemies made

incursions as far as Pensacola and carried off all that they found. How was it possible to march against them across those forests, when they dispersed so`rapidly, only to appear suddenly in other places? How could troops be removed from the town where were assembled all the families, and all the munitions were stored? And, moreover, this had no defenses, and was open on every side. Doubtless, then, the governor of Louisiana must have recognized the deplorable effects of that jealous and narrow policy which kept Pensacola in humble subjection to New Orleans, and had not peopled the country with cultivators, who would have become defenders in time of need.

"The governor of Louisiana had recourse to a means much at variance with that loyalty, often romantic, which, during so many ages, had characterized the Spanish nation; an odious means, and which doubtless his court would have quickly disapproved. It was perfidy; he began a correspondence with Bawles, under a pretence of coming to a reconciliation. He caressed him, praised him, and finally brought him to an interview at New Orleans. The officer bearing the passports especially assured Bawles that his person would be inviolate, and gave him, as additional pledge, the governor's word of honor. Bawles, generous and confident, went to New Orleans. On his arrival he was loaded with irons. 'What!' he cried, in the governor's presence, 'the officers of a great king. so highly paid, honored with eminent dignities, thus make sport of the most sacred obligation! My trunks have been taken from me, my gold and papers stolen, and my hands loaded with irons. Ah!' he cried, shaking violently his chains, the faith of oaths violated in my person will find avengers.'

"I report literally these words, which leave no longer any doubt that Bawles was the agent of the English government.

"He was sent to Havana, the residence of the captain general, and thence was embarked for Spain. This was during the last war; the vessel was captured by the English and taken to their ports. Bawles, accompanied by some savages, excited at London the greatest interest. The duke of York went to see him, and it was supposed that the object of this visit was not alone idle curiosity. Some time afterwards, this chief of savages embarked for Jamaica. It is well to observe that it was upon a frigate, and

1