Page:History of the Ojibway Nation.djvu/179

Rh leaders, and suddenly the dread and fear-striking war-whoop issued from the lips of hundreds of blood-thirsty warriors. Volley after volley of bullets and arrows were fired, and discharged into the frail and defenceless tepees, and the shrieking and yelling of the inmates as they became thus suddenly startled from their sleep, made the uproar of the attack truly deafening.

Completely taken by surprise, the warriors of the Dakotas fought at a disadvantage; their women and children ran shrieking to the water's side, and hastily jumping into their narrow wooden canoes, they attempted to cross to the opposite shores of the lake. The wind, however, had increased in force, and sweeping down the lake in a fearful gale, it caused the waves to run high, and in many instances the crowded and crank canoes filled with water or upset, launching the fleeing women and children into a watery grave.

After a long and unavailing defence, such of the Dakota warriors as had stood their ground, were obliged to retreat. Thirty of their number are said to have fled under a ledge of rock, where, being entirely surrounded, they were shot down one after another.

This is one of the most successful war parties which the Ojibways tell of. It is said that at each encampment on their return homeward, the scalps which they had taken, being each tied to the end of a stick three or four feet long, were planted close together in a single row, and an arrow shot by a strong arm, from one end of this row of human scalps, fell short of reaching the other extremity. One of their story tellers, who in his youth had long remained a captive among the Dakotas, states explicitly, that on this occasion, the Ojibways secured three hundred and thirty-five scalps, and many more than this are thought to have perished in the water. But one captive is mentioned as having been taken, and the circumstances of his