Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/283

 An Account of the Mufkohge Nation. 271

a long time wantonly fhed innocent blood, and fometimes with dreadful tor tures ? The blood cries aloud to the avenging God, to caufe juftice to be executed on their execrable heads : for a while they may efcape due punifli- ment, but at laft it will fall heavy upon them.

When the fuperintendant's deputy convened mod of the Mufkohge

head-men, in order to write a friendly mediating letter to the Chikkafah,

in behalf of the Mufkohge, the Great Mortar, animated with a bitter

refentment againft any thing tranfafted by any of the Britifh nation,

introduced a confiderable number of his relations, merely to difconcert this

plan. The letter, and ufual Indian tokens of peace and friendfhip, were

however carried up by a Chikkafah trader : but the Great Mortar timed

it fo well, that he foon fet off after the other with ninety warriors, till he

arrived within 150 miles of the Chikkafah country, which was half way

from the weftern barriers of his own, there he encamped with 83, and fent

off feven of the ftauncheft to furprize and kill whomfoever they could.

Two days after the exprefs was delivered, they treacheroufly killed two

young women, as they were hoeing in the field ; all the people being off

their guard, on account of the late friendly tokens they received, and the

affurance of the white man that there were no vifible tracks of any perfon

on the long trading path he had come. This was the beginning of May,

in the year 1768, a few hours after I had fet off for South-Carolina. As

foon as the fculking barbarians had difcharged the contents of their guns

into their innocent vidlims, they tomohawked them, and with their long

Iharp knives, took off the fcalps, put up the death wkoo-wboop-wboop, and

bounded away in an oblique courfe, to fhun the dreaded purfuit. The

Chikkafah foon put up their mrill war-whoop, to arm and purfue, and

fixty fet off on horfe-back, full fpeed. They over- (hot that part of

the woods the enemy were 'mo ft likely to have fled through, and four

' young fprightly Chikkafah warriors who outran the reft, at laft difcovered,

and intercepted them, they (hot dead the Great Mortar's brother, who was

the leader, fcalped him, and retook one of the young women's fcalps that

was fattened to his girdle. Three continued the chafe, and the fourth in

a fhort time overtook them : foon afterward, they came up again with the

enemy, at the edge of a large cane-fwamp, thick-warped with vines, and china

briers ; there they flopped, and were at firft in doubt of their being fome of

their

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