Page:Life and astonishing adventures of Peter Williamson (2).pdf/21

21 cruel manner—his arms were tied close to his body, and a hole being dug decp enough for him to stand upright, he was put therein, and carth rammed and beat in all round his body, up to the ncck, so that his head only appeared above thc ground ; thcy thcn scalped him, and there let him remain for thrce or four hours in the great- est agonics ; after which they made a small fire near his head, causing him to suffer the most ex- cruciating torments imaginable, whilst the poor creature could only cry for mercy in killing him immcdiately, for his brains were boiling in his head. Inexorablc to all his plaints, they contin- ucd the fire, whilst, shocking to behold, his eyes gushed out of their sockets ; and such agonizing torments did the unhappy creature suffer for near two hours till he was quite dead ! They then cut off his head and buried it with the other bodies—my task being to dig the graves, which, feeble and terrified as I was, the dread of suffer- ing the same fate, cnabled me to do. I shall not here take up the reader’s time, in vainly at- tempting to describe what I felt on such an oc- casion, but continue my narrative, as more equal to my abilities. A great snow now falling, the barbarians were a little fearful lest the white people should, by their traces, find out their skulking retreats, which obliged them to make the best of their