him, or he had not done it. Being brought to trial in June the next year at Castine, by advice of counsel, he pleaded not guilty; and after a day spent in his trial, a verdict was rendered, according to the defence set up, manslaughter. Susup had a wife and several children; four of whom, with their mother, were present, as were many other Indians from St. Johns and Passamaquoddy, besides a great crowd of whites. After sentence was declared, Susup was asked by the court if he had any thing to say for himself; to which he replied, "JOHN NEPTUNE will speak for me." NEPTUNE rose up, and, having advanced towards the judges, deliberately said, in English, "You know your people do my Indians great deal wrong. They abuse them very much-yes they murder them; then they walk right off-nobody touches them. This makes my heart burn. Well, then my Indians say, we will go kill your very bad and wicked men. No, I tell'em never do that thing, we are brothers. Some time ago a very bad man about Boston, shot an Indian dead. Your people said, surely he should die, but it was not so. In the great prison house he eats and lives to this day. Certainly he never dies for killing Indian. My brothers say let that bloody man go free-Peol Susup too. So we wish. Hope fills the hearts of us all-Peace is good. These, my Indians, love it well. They smile under its shade. The white men and red men must be always friends. The Great Spirit is our father.-I speak what I feel." "Susup was sentenced to another year's imprisonment, and required to find sureties for keeping the peace two years, in the penal sum of 500 dollars ; when John Neptune, Squire Jo Merry Neptune, of his own tribe, Capt. Solmond, from Passamaquoddy, and Capt. Jo Tomer, from the River St. Johns, became his sureties in the cognizance." + Captain Francis, the first captain of the tribe, has been mentioned, and who, according to the historian of Maine, is a man of good understanding. If the information he has given concerning the eastern Indians be correct,-and we see no cause to doubt it,-it is of much value, and no less interest. He assured Mr. Williamson, "that all the tribes between the Saco and the St. Johns, both inclusive, are brothers; that the eldest lived on the Saco; that each tribe is younger as we pass eastward, like the sons of the same father, though the one at Passamaquoddy is the youngest of all, proceeding from those upon the River St. Johns and Penobscot.§ Always,' he affirms, 'I could understand all these brothers very well when they speak; but when the Mickmaks or the Algonquins, or Canada Indians talk, I cannot tell all what they say.” Before dismissing the interesting Tarratines, it may be proper to present a specimen of their language. Metunk senah, ouwa'ne, spum`keag-aio, kee'nuck tle-we-seh, keah-dabel'-dock, now-do'-seh, keah`-olet-haut'ta-mon-a, numah-zee, m'se-tah`-mah, t'hah-lah-wee'keunah, spum-keag-aio, me-lea'neh, neo`nah, ne-quem-pe-bem-gees'o'coque, maje`me, gees-cool, arbon, mus-see-a'tos'see, neo nah, commont`en-esk-sock, 't-hah-lahwee-keunah, num-e-se-comele'ent, tah-hah-la-we-u-keah-ma-che-ke'-cheek, a-que-he', a-que-ah-lah-ke-me-sah'coque, n'gah'ne, numa-zee', nea-nah, neo'je, saw-got. "He alluded to one Livermore, who had received sentence of death for killing an Indian, which was commuted to hard labor for life in the state's prison." Williamson. An Indian named CREVAY, a Penobscot of the tribe of St. Francis, to avoid being distressed by the war on the frontiers of Canada, with his wife wandered down into Massachusetts, and erected a wigwam on the shore of Spot Pond, in the town of Stoneham, where they lived. At length some abominable white ruffians, on the night of the 23 November, 1813, shot him while he was asleep, and badly wounded his squaw. Not being killed outright, this Indian crawled from his wigwam, and was found the next day almost lifeless and in great agony, and he expired in a few days after. The names of the murderers I will not give, for I abhor to sully my page with them. Four were guilty. One fled from justice, two were tried and condemned to be hanged, December 25th, following. Report of the Trial. ↑ Ibid. The Indians said, Pascodum-oquon-keag. Pascodum meant pollock; oquon, catch 'em great many; eag, land or place. Penops, rocks; keag, a place of. 322 ROWLS.-BLIND-WILL. [BOOK III. woo-saw'me, keah-dabeld-ock, ego-mah, keeloah', noa'chee, done-ah'le, sazoos`, neah lets, quos-que.* In speaking of the New Hampshire sachems, it was not intended that so conspicuous a chief as Rowls should have been silently passed over, and therefore we will give him a place here. This chief has of late years become noted, from the circumstance of his name's being found to the celebrated Wheelwright deed of 1629. That deed, it may be proper to remark, purported to have been given by Passaconaway, Runaawitt, Wehanownowit, and Rowls. The tract of country conveyed was included between the Pascataqua and Merrimack Rivers, and bounded inland by a line from "Pawtucket" Falls in the latter, and Newichawannok in the former. It is pretty certain, now, that these sachems gave no such deed at the time specified. RowLs was sachem of the Newichawannoks, and his dwelling-place was upon the north side of the Pascataqua, not far from Quampeagan Falls, in Berwick, then Kittery. "In 1643, he conveyed the lands of his vicinity to Humphrey Chadbourn; and others afterwards, to Spencer; the former being the earliest Indian deed found upon our records. It is certain that all the Indians upon the river to its mouth, were his subjects, though he was under Passaconaway." Mr. Hubbard says, "There was within the compass of the seven years now current, [about 1670,] a sagamore about Kittary, called Rouls or Rolles: who laying very sick, and bedrid, (being an old man,) he expected some of the English, that seized upon his land, should have shown him that civility, as to have given him a visit in his aged infirmities and sickness. It matters not much whether it was totally neglected or not; to be sure at the last, he sent for the chiefs of the town and desired a favor of them, viz. that though he might, as he said, challenge [claim] all the plantation for his own, where they dwelt, that yet they would please to sell or give him a small tract of land, possibly an hundred or two of acres, and withall desired it might be recorded in the town book, as a public act, that so his children, which he left behind, might not be turned out, like vagabonds, as destitute of an habitation amongst, or near the English, adding this as a reason: That he knew there would shortly fall out a war between the Indians and the English, all over the country, and that the Indians at the first should prevail, and do much mischief to the English, and kill many of them: But after the third year, or after three years, all the Indians which so did, should be rooted out, and utterly destroyed." This account, the same author says, "is reported by Maj. Waldron, Mr. Joshua Moody, Capt. Frost, that live upon, or near the place." A chief named Blind-will was successor to Rolls, and in Philip's war served the English. Why the word blind was prefixed to his name is not mentioned, but probably he had lost an eye. In 1677, the wretched expedient was resorted to by the whites, of employing the Mohawks against the Tarratines, and two messengers, Majors Pinchon and Richards, were despatched to their country. They were kindly received by them, and promised their assistance. "Accordingly some parties of them came down the country, about the middle of March, and the first alarm was given at Amuskeeg Falls; where the son of Wonolanset being hunting, discovered 15 Indians on the other side, who called to him in a language which he did not understand; upon which he fled, and they fired near 30 guns at him without effect. Presently after this they were discovered in the woods near Cochecho. Major Waldron sent out eight of his Indians, whereof Blind-will was one, to make further discovery. They were all surprised together by a company of the Mohawks; two or three escaped, the others were either killed or taken. Will was dragged away by his hair; and being wounded, perished in the woods, on a neck of land, formed by the confluence of Cochecho and Ising-glass Rivers, which still bears the name of Blind-will's Neck."§ Such were the exploits of the allies of the English * Williamson's Maine, i. 513. Belknap, Hist. N. H. i. 125. + Williamson, i. 460. Indian Wars, ii. 81. at this time; nor do we find that any others were performed of a different character. Notwithstanding, the same miserable policy was talked of again about nine years after; but we do not learn that it was carried into practice. It was, perhaps, at the time of which we have been speaking, that the Narraganset chief Pessacus was murdered, as has been mentioned.* We had not thus long delayed our notice of one of the most renowned chiefs, but from the untoward circumstance of having mislaid a valuable communication concerning him. The sachem of whom we are now to speak was known among the French by the name of Nescambioüit, but among the English he was called ASSACAMBUIT, and Assacombuit. This chief was as faithful to the French as one of their own nation; and our account of him begins in 1696, when, with Iberville and the famous Montigny, he rendered important service in the reduction of the English Fort St. Johns, 30 November, of that year. Being apprized of the approach of the French and Indians, the English sent out 88 men to oppose them, who, on the 28, were met and attacked by a part of Iberville's army, under Montigny and Nescambioüit, and defeated with the loss of 55 men. On the night before St. Johns capitulated, Iberville, with Nescambioüit as his second, at the head of 30 men, made a sally to burn one part of the town, while D'Muys and Montigny, with 60 others, were ordered to fire it at another point. Both parties succeeded. § In 1699, he is noticed for some cruelty, which, it was said, he inflicted upon a child, named Thomasin Rouse. He having ordered it to carry something to the water side, it cried; he took a stick and struck her down, and she lay for dead. He then threw her into the water, but she was saved by another Indian. She was an English captive, and was soon after restored. This account was handed Dr. Mather, by one who had just returned from Casco Bay, where he had been to hold a treaty with the Indians. The account closes in these words: "This Assacombuit hath killed and taken this war, (they tell me,) 150 men, women and children. A bloody Devil." || It is said that Mauris, Wanungonet, and Assacombuit, were "three of the most valiant and puissant sachems" of the east. Their attack upon the fort at Casco, in August, 1703, has been mentioned.** In 1704, some of the Abenaquis, having established themselves in Newfoundland, were attacked by the English, and some of them killed. Whereupon they applied to Governor Vaudreuil for assistance to repel them, and he sent Montigny with a few Canadians, who joined themselves with about 50 Abenaquis under Nescambi ouit, and attacked the English with great success. They pillaged and burnt one fort, and took many prisoners. H In 1705, M. Subercase, having succeeded M. Brouillon in the government of Newfoundland, endeavored to make thorough work with the remaining English there. Their success was nearly complete, and here again Nescambiouit is noticed as acting a conspicuous part. Subercase's army consisted of 400 men,‡‡ in all, and they set out from Placentia 15 January, upon snowshoes, with 20 days' provisions. They suffered much from the rigor of the weather, and did not fall upon the English until the 26, which was at a place called Rebou. They next took Petit Havre. At St. Johns they found some resistance, where the English now had two forts, which were supplied with cannon and mortars, and, after losing five men in killed and wounded, were obliged to raise the siege, in consequence of want of powder; having damaged much of what they brought with them in wading rivers. They next attacked Forrillon and took it. §§ This was 5 March. Here was also a fort, *See B. II. p. 58. note §. † From Rev. Mr. Felt, of Hamilton. **Page 104, lib. iii. Penhallow. tt Charlevoix, ii. 294. # This is according to Charlevoix, but Penhallow says 500, and Anspach, (Hist. Newfound land, 123.) about 500. Charlevoix is, doubtless, nearest the truth. Le Bourg fut brûlé, après quoi MONTIGNY, qui avoit amené à cette expédition son fidéle NESCAMBIOUIT, fut détaché avec les sauvages, et une partie des Canadiens, peur aller du côté de Carbonniere, et de Bonneviste, avec order de brûler et de détruire toute le côté, ce qu'il exécuta sans perdre un seul homme, tant la terreur étoit grande parmi les Anglois. N. France, ii. 300. 324 ASSACAMBUIT. [Book III. into which the inhabitants at first retired, and endeavored to defend themselves, but soon surrendered prisoners of war. Not long after these services Nescambioüit sailed for France, and in 1706 visited his majesty, King Louis XIV, at Versailles. Here, among other eminent personages, he became known to the historian CHARLEVOIX. The king having presented him an elegant sword, he is reported to have said, holding up his hand, "This hand has slain one hundred and forty of your majesty's enemies in New England;" and that whereupon, the king forthwith knighted him, and ordered that henceforth a pension of eight livres a day be allowed him for life. Nescambioüit returned to America in 1707, and the next year accompanied Rouville to attack Haverhill in Massachusetts. The French had intended a much more formidable conquest, and had engaged bands of Indians from four nations to cooperate with them, and all were to rendezvous at Lake Nikisipique, as they called Winnipesauke or Winnipisiogee. But all except the Algonquins and Abenaquis under Nescambioüit, having failed and deserted them, they were on the point of abandoning their enterprise altogether. Having made known their situation to Governor Vaudreuil, and requested his orders, he directed, that though all the Indians deserted them, they should not give over the expedition. Des Chaillons having communicated this intelligence to the Indians, they entreated him to lead them forward, and said they would follow him wherever he chose to go. From Nikisipique they marched, at last, with 200 men, fell upon Haverhill, and sacked it. The attack was made, sun about an hour high, 29 August, 1708. The contest was short as the opposition was feeble. The English lost about 100 persons by this irruption, 40 or 50 of whom were killed at Haverhill. Nescambioüit, in this affair, fought by the side of the commander-in-chief, and performed prodigies of valor with the sword which he brought from France. Having burned the fort and many of the buildings in the village, they began to retrace their steps, with precipitation. The English, having rallied, formed an ambush in the edge of the woods, about a mile and a half from the town, attacked them vigorously, killing and wounding many of them. In the ambush were 60 or 70 English, who, after hanging upon their flanks for near an hour, retreated. In this last affair the French suffered most. In both encounters, 18 men were wounded, three Indians and five Frenchmen killed. In the ambush fell Hertel of Chambly, and Vercheres, both officers of experience; and the renowned Assacambuit, as though, elsewhere, like Achilles, invulnerable, was wounded by a shot in the foot. This last attack had the happy effect of immediately restoring many of the prisoners. From 1708 to 1727, we hear nothing of Assacambuit. In June of the latter year, his death is recorded, accompanied with a short account of him, in a newspaper of that time. Mention is made, among other things, that, like Hercules, he had a "famous club" which he always carried with him, on which were 98 notches, denoting the number of "English" he had killed; that he was knighted while in France, the insignia of which, on his return home, he wore upon his breast in large letters. In this newspaper communication he is styled "Old Escambuit," " formerly the principal sagamore of (the now dispersed) tribe of the Saco or Pigwacket Indians." He probably went to reside among the St. Francis tribe about 1700. He was restless when there was no war, and our account says, "when there was something of a prospect of settled peace, about 30 years ago, [1700,] he marched off the * Anspach, 124. + Hist. Gen. de la Nouv. France, ii. 326. Penhallow, 40. This must be, we think, a great misrepresentation of his real speech, as subsequent details will lead one to suppose. Perhaps he might have said forty. "Ils prirent alors le parti de marcher contre un village appellé HAWREUIL, composé de vintcing à trente maisons bien bâtis, avec un fort, où logeoit le gouverneur. Ce fort avoit une garrison de trente soldats, et il y en avoit au moins dix dans chaque maison." Charlevoix says, "Toutes les maisons se défendirent aussi très-bien, et eureut le même sort. Il'y eut environ cent Anglois de tués dans ces différentes attaques; plusieurs autres, qui attendirent trop tard à sortir du fort et des maisons, y furent brules." None of the English accounts mention this, and it was doubtless supposition, without foundation in fact. ground as a disbanded officer, left his brethren and travelled towards the Mississippi, where he was constantly engaged in wars, and never heard of till the last fall he returned to those [eastern] parts." This was probably the report among the English of New England; but in truth he was with the French in Canada, as we have seen. Had PENHALLOW published his INDIAN WARS One year later, he would not, probably, have closed his account as he did concerning him. He says that, at his return from France, he was so exalted that he treated his countrymen in the most haughty and arrogant manner, "murdering one and stabbing another, which so exasperated those of their relations, that they sought revenge, and would have instantly executed it, but that he fled his country, and never returned after." Destruction of Deerfield, and captivity of Reverend John Williams and family, in 1704. SOMETIMES in a volume, and sometimes in a pamphlet, the narrative of this affair had often been given to the world previous to 1774, by one of the principal actors in it, whose name is at the beginning of this chapter, and which is doubtless familiar to every reader of New England legends. The edition of Mr. Williams's work, out of which I take this, was prepared by the renowned New England annalist, the Reverend Thomas Prince, and was the 5th, printed at Boston "by John Boyle, next door to the Three Doves in Marlborough Street, 1774." It was a closely printed 8vo. pamphlet of 70 pages. It will be necessary to relate some important facts of historical value before proceeding with the narrative. As at several other times, the plan was laid early in 1703, in Canada, for laying waste the whole English frontier, but like former and later plans, laid in that region, this but partially succeeded. Though the eastern settlements from Casco to Wells were destroyed, and 130 people killed and captivated, the summer before, yet the towns on the Connecticut had neglected their precautionary duty. And although Governor Dudley of Massachusetts had but little while before been notified of the design of the French, yet it was impossible to guard the eastern coast against the attack. Deerfield had been palisaded and 20 soldiers placed in it, but had been quartered about in different houses, and, entirely forgetting their duty as soldiers, were surprised with the rest of the town. The snow was deep, which gave the enemy an easy entrance over the pickets. The French were commanded by Hertel de Rouville, but the commanders of the Indians remain unknown. Mr. Williams thus begins his narrative: "On Tuesday the 29th of February, 1703-4, not long before break of day, the enemy came in like a flood upon us; our watch being unfaithful: an evil, whose awful effects, in a surprizal of our fort, should bespeak all watchmen to avoid, as they would not bring the charge of blood upon themselves. They came to my house in the beginning of the onset, and by their violent endeavors to break open doors and windows, with axes and hatchets, awakened me out of sleep; on which I leaped out of bed, and running towards the door, perceived the enemy making their entrance into the house. I called to awaken two soldiers in the chamber; and returning toward my bedside for my arins, the enemy immediately brake into my room, I judge to the number of 20, with painted faces, and hideous acclamations. I reached up my hands to the bed-tester, for my pistol, uttering a short petition to God, expecting a present passage through the valley of the shadow of death." "Taking down my pistol, I cocked it, and put it to the breast of the first Indian who came up; but my pistol missing fire, I was seized by 3 Indians who disarmed me, and bound me naked, as I was, in my shirt, and so I stood for near the space of an hour." Meanwhile the work of destruction and pillage was carried on with great fury. One of the three who captured Mr. Williams was a captain, |