friendly, and who watched every opportunity to do the white people mischief.

21. We now approach a period of great interest in the history of New England. The Indians perceived that the English were rapidly increasing in numbers, while they themselves were as fast diminishing. They foresaw that in a short time the English colonies would overspread the whole land, while they should themselves be driven back into the wilderness. This excited their jealousy, and led them bitterly to hate the English. Besides this, quarrels occasionally arose between the white inhabitants and the savages. Whether these originated with the English or the Indians, the latter were always sure to be thought in the wrong, and were punished by the white people accordingly.

22. In short, the Indians had discovered that the English, being wiser and more artful than they, were likely soon to become their masters; and the hatred thus excited was aggravated by acts of injustice and oppression, committed on the part of the English towards the savages.

23. There lived, about this time, in Rhode Island, an Indian, who was called King Philip by the English. He was chief of the Wampanoags, and lived at Mount Hope, near Bristol. The country was then called Pokanoket. Philip, being a man of great sagacity, saw that unless the English colonies were checked, the Indians would, in the course of a few years, cease to exist as independent tribes. After reflecting upon these things, he resolved to make one great effort to drive the English from the land, and free his country from such dangerous intruders.

24. Accordingly he visited, in secret, several of the tribes in New England. He conversed with the chiefs, and told them that if they remained inactive, in a few years the beautiful rivers, and hills, and forests, which

had descended from their fathers, would cease to be their inheritance. He described the English as crafty, longsighted, and greedy, who added township to township, and colony to colony, and who would never be content until they possessed every foot of land east of the Hudson.

25. He prophesied the gradual decrease, and the final extinction, of all those tribes who once reigned over the whole land. He told them that their forests would be cut down, that their hunting grounds would be soon taken from them, that their warriors would be slain, their children wander forth in poverty, their chiefs be beggars, and their tribes be scattered and lost like the autumn leaves. To remedy these evils, Philip proposed that a mighty effort should be made, by all the tribes in New England, to destroy the English. He had little difficulty in bringing the chiefs into his schemes. A general effort was agreed upon, and soon the war began.

26. In June, 1675, as the people of Swanzey, in Plymouth colony, were returning home from church, a sudden attack was made by some Indians upon them. At this period, the Indians were supplied with muskets, powder, and ball, and they had learned to use firearms with considerable skill. In a few moments, therefore, eight or nine of the inhabitants of Swanzey were killed. The country was immediately alarmed, and the people flew to the succor of the inhabitants from all quarters. An attack was made upon the Indians the next morning, and several of them were killed.

27. This resolute conduct awed the Indians; and Philip himself, expecting an attack, fled from Mount Hope with his warriors. It was soon ascertained that they had gone to a swamp in Pocasset, now Tiverton. The white people followed them thither, and entering the swamp, pursued them till night. They were then obliged to retreat. The

English, finding it impossible to encounter the enemy in the swamp, determined to surround it, and starve them out. But Philip guessed their design, and privately stole away with his men.

28. In all parts of New England the Indians seemed to be moved by a spirit of deadly revenge. They set the town of Springfield on fire, and no less than thirty houses were consumed. About eighty young men were attacked at Muddy Brook, as they were employed in transporting some grain from Deerfield to Hadley. They had no idea that an enemy was at hand. They had stopped a moment with their teams, and were gathering some grapes by the roadside. Sudden as the thunderbolt, the savage yell broke upon their ears. They were immediately surrounded by the Indians. Seventy of them were shot down, and these were all buried in one grave.

29. In New Hampshire and Maine, the Indians fell upon the towns, set the houses on fire, and killed the inhabitants. At Saco, Dover, Exeter, and other places, they committed the most dreadful outrages. In Massachusetts, they attacked Quaboag, now Brookfield, and burned all the houses except one, in which the inhabitants had taken refuge. This they also assailed; and for two days, incessantly, they poured their musket shot upon it. A great multitude of balls passed through the sides of the house, but only one person in it was killed.

30. Finding it impossible to destroy the people in this way, they attempted to set fire to the house. With long poles, they thrust against it firebrands, and rags dipped in brimstone. They shot arrows of fire upon it, and finally they loaded a cart with flax and tow, set it on fire, and pushed it against the house. The curling flame was soon communicated to the building; and now, feeling certain of

their prey, the savages took their station so that they might cut down those who should attempt to escape. But in this moment of peril, the white men were saved, as if by the

Indians setting fire to a house at Brookfield.

hand of Heaven. A sudden shower fell upon the flames, and at once extinguished them. Soon after, Major Willard, with some soldiers, came to their relief. He attacked the Indians, killed a number of them, and the rest fled.

31. At length it was thought necessary to humble the Narragansetts. They were a powerful tribe in Rhode Island, and occupied a fort of great strength. Near two thousand white men went against them. The fort was built on a hill in the centre of a swamp, and in it there were about three thousand Indians. There was but one entrance to the fort. This was accidentally discovered by the white men, and they gallantly rushed in to attack the enemy. But the Indians met them, and many of the English were killed. They were at length obliged to retreat; but by and by some Connecticut troops entered

the fort on the opposite side, and at the same moment the attack was vigorously renewed at the entrance.

32. The Indians were now cut down with dreadful slaughter. The fort was taken, and six hundred wigwams were set on fire, and burned to the ground. More than one thousand of the Indian warriors were killed, and three hundred were taken prisoners.

war.

33. Such were some of the events of this remarkable For near two years, almost every part of New Eng land was a scene of bloodshed. But although the Indians killed great numbers of white people, yet their own loss was far greater. In truth, they never recovered from the many reverses which they experienced. Although there were, perhaps, ten times as many of them as of the white people, yet such were the superior skill and management of the latter, that the Indians were effectually defeated, and their power in New England was finally overthrown.

34. The death of Philip soon brought the war to a close. He was found in a swamp near Mount Hope, with several other Indians. Captain Church, with a few white men, surrounded the swamp at night. When the morning came, Philip, perceiving that he could not escape, rushed towards the spot where some of the white men lay. An English soldier levelled his gun, but it missed fire. An Indian, who was of the party, took deliberate aim, and shot the chief through the heart.

Thus fell the most celebrated

of all the Indian chiefs. From this time, the Indians, finding further resistance vain, began to submit to the English. The struggle was continued a while in Maine; but that soon ended, and no general effort was ever after made, on the part of the Indians, to subdue the English.

35. This war continued from the year 1675 till 1678. About six hundred white men were killed in the struggle, thirteen towns were destroyed, and six hundred dwelling