Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 2).djvu/193

1768-1782] deer and bears, Indian corn, melons and other fruit. The Southern Indians have more villages, and are better civilized than the Northern, the climate being warm, and nature more prolific, which {149} enables them to raise the fruits of the earth without much labour. Their houses are covered with birch bark, and decorated with bows and arrows, and weapons of war. Their beds are bark and matts made of rushes.

We pursued our voyage to Ouisconsin, a fine River, with a strong current for about sixty leagues, which our canoes ran down in a day and a half; and upon which we saw an immense quantity of ducks, geese, and other fowl. On this river we were obliged to unload our canoes, in order to transport our goods across the portage, about two miles in length. We encamped on the banks, and intended setting off at break of day, but one of the Indians was bitten by a rattlesnake, which Mr. Adair calls the bright inhabitant of the woods, and which had fourteen rattles.

Mr. Beatty relates that as he was preaching to the Indians and others, at a small house near Juniata River, a rattle-snake crept into the room, but was happily discovered and killed; and before the people could well recover themselves, a snake of another kind was discovered among the assembly, which was also killed without any other detriment than disturbing the congregation, which surprised him very much, as it was a matter of astonishment how these reptiles could crawl into the house without

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