Page:Surprising life and sufferings of Peter Williamson.pdf/7

 speaking broken English, threatened me in return. “That if I did not come out, they would burn me alive in the house;” telling me further, what I unhappily perceived, “That they were no friends to the English, but if I would come out and surrender myself prisoner, they would not kill me.” Distracted as I was in such deplorable circumstances, I chose to rely on the uncertainty of their fallacious promises, rather than meet with certain death by rejecting them; and accordingly went out of my house with my gun in my hand, not knowing what I did, or that I had. Immediately on my approach, they rushed on me like so many tigers, and instantly disarmed me. Having me thus in their power, the merciless villains bound me to a tree near the door: they then went into the house, and plundered and destroyed every thing in it, carrying off what moveables they could; the rest, together with the house, which they set fire to, was soon consumed before my eyes, The barbarians, not satisfied with this, set fire to my barn stable, and out-houses, wherein were about 200 bushels of wheal, six cows, four horses, and five sleep, being all entirely consumed to ashes.

Having thus finished the execrable business of my utter ruin, one of the monsters came to me with a tomahawk* in his hand, threatning me with the worst of deaths, if I would not

• ''A Tomahawk is a kind of hatchet, made something like our plaisterer's hammers, about two feet long, handle and all. To take up the hatchet (or Tomahawk) among them, is to declare war. They generally use it after firing''