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EASTBURN
NARRATIVE

Of this edition, two hundred and
sixty-seven copies have been printed,
of which two hundred and fifty are
for sale, and the type distributed.
This is No..

jLo#

NARRATIVES OF CAPTIVITIES

THE DANGERS AND SUFFERINGS OF
ROBERT EASTBURN, AND HIS
DELIVERANCE FROM IN
DIAN CAPTIVITY

REPRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION OP 1758
WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY

JOHN R. SPEARS

CLEVELAND
THE BURROWS BROTHERS COMPANY
IQ04

Copyright, 1904
BY
The Burrows Brothers Company

CJ1
Ea
0-0

CONTENTS

Introduction ....

PAGE
• 7

Eastburn Narrative

. 21

Title-page (facsimile)

• 23

Preface .....

• 25

To the Reader ....

• 27

A Faithful Narrative, &c.

• 29

Index 

• 73

INTRODUCTION
ROBERT EASTBURN, whose Faithful Nar
rative is one of the valuable, because one
of the undoubted, original authorities
relating to the war that destroyed the French
power in North America, was captured by a
force of French soldiers and Indians on a wagon
road that crossed the divide between the Mo
hawk River and Wood Creek, just north of the
modern city of Rome, New York. He was
carried thence to Canada, where he was adopted
into an Indian family, and where he remained,
part of the time with the Indians, and a part
with the French, for something less than two
years. It will add to the interest of the narration of
his experiences to know that Eastburn was born
in England in 1710 (see Memoirs ofthe Rev.
Joseph Eastburn), but was brought to America by
his parents when he was four years old. There
after his home was in Philadelphia. His
parents were Quakers, but in 1739, Robert was
won over to the Presbyterians by the preaching

INTROD UCTI0N

of George Whitefield,* and when Whitefield
organized a congregation, Robert became one of
its deacons.
To those who are acquainted with the history
of the American frontier during the eighteenth
century, the fact that Eastburn was a Christian
is of peculiar interest. For when captured by
the French invaders he was one of a party of
men who were on their way to the frontier post
of Oswego to engage in the Indian trade; and
no men, as a class, have been so utterly degraded
and deeply cursed by their trade as those who
have dealt with the aboriginal inhabitants of
the earth. With them a thought of fair dealing
* Franklin, in his autobiography, says of Whitefield : " In 1 739
arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend Mr. Whitefield,
who had made himself remarkable there as an itinerant
preacher. He was at first permitted to preach in some of our
churches ; but the clergy, taking a dislike to him, soon refused
him their pulpits, and he was obliged to preach in the fields.
The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his
sermons were enormous, and it was matter of speculation to
me, who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinary
influence of his oratory on his hearers, . . notwithstanding
his common abuse of them, by assuring them they were natu
rally half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful to see
the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants.
From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed
as if all the world were growing religious." Under White-
field's influence a church one hundred feet long by seventy
feet broad was erected and paid for before dedication. It
was " vested in trustees, expressly for the use of any preacher
of any religious persuasion who might desire to say something
to the people of Philadelphia."

INTROD UCTI0N

was an evidence of weakness; the ability to
overreach the savage was their constant boast.
Nevertheless, because some were strictly
honest, according to their light (Quakers and
Moravians traded with the Indians), and because
as a class the traders were most energetic,
enterprising, and courageous, it seems likely
that the story of their work and adventures
should make the most interesting of the chap
ters of the American annals that have not yet
been written.
Thus, it was the work of the Indian traders
chiefly — their anxiety to preserve and extend
the fur-trade — that caused all the long series
of French and Indian raids on the British-
American frontier during the period so graph
ically described by Parkman in his Half Century
of Conflict. And the first stroke delivered on
the American continent, in what is known as
the "Seven Years' War" — the war during
which Eastburn was captured — was struck by
Charles Langlade, a French trader, with a party
of Ottawas and Ojibways, who attacked the
American traders and the Indians who were
gathered at Pickawillany (near the modern
Piqua, Ohio), June 21, 1752.
To show the courage and enterprise of Robert
Eastburn as a trader, it is necessary to go over
the events that, in America, preceded and led
to the Seven Years' War.

10 INTRODUCTION
Under the treaty of Utrecht (April n, 1713),
and that of Aix-la-Chapelle (October 7, 1748),
the British had the right to trade with the
Indians of the interior of North America, regard
less of the claims of France to that territory.
That every British trader would have made
haste to exchange a pint of rum, or six cents'
worth of red paint, for a beaver-^kin at every
opportunity, regardless of treaties, may be
admitted; but the fact is they had the legal
right to do it.
In pursuit of the profits thus to be obtained,
the traders — particularly those of Philadel
phia — thronged through the passes of the
Alleghanies, after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
In 1 749, it is said (Parkman) that three hundred
of them led their packhorses into the wilds of
the Mississippi Valley. Governor Dinwiddie,
of Virginia, said of them that " they appear to
be in general a set of abandoned wretches,"
and Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, con
curred in that opinion. But whatever their
morals they fearlessly threaded the forests of
the region beyond the mountains, met and
fought the rival traders of the north, went to
the Indian villages wherever to be found, and
in time established a station on Sandusky Bay,
although the French had a station at Detroit
and another on the Maumee River, in northern
Ohio.

INTROD UCTI0N U
Commandant Raymond, in charge of the
French post on the Maumee, wrote, at about
this time :
" All the tribes who go to the English at
Pickawillany come back loaded with gifts.
If the English stay in this country we are lost.
We must attack and drive them out. ' '
The Indians that had settled around Detroit
were invited to make the attack, but they were
found to be " touched with disaffection ; ' ' and
it was then that Charles Langlade came from
the upper lakes and destroyed Pickawillany.
In the meantime the French had taken a
formal ' ' renewal of possession ' ' of the Ohio
country by sending Celoron de Bienville to
bury certain lead plates in the Ohio watershed,
and to nail tin plates, on which the French
royal coat of arms had been painted, to a number
of trees — all of which acts were duly attested
by a notary public carried along for the purpose.
The attack upon Pickawillany having proved as
futile as the expedition of Celoron — though an
Indian chief called " Old Britain" was boiled
and eaten by Langlade's Indians — measures
that were to prove strikingly effective for a
time, were adopted by the French.
An expedition was sent by way of Erie, Penn
sylvania, to the headwaters of the Alleghany
River, where a post was established (1752), and
named Le Bceuf. It stood where Waterford,

18 INTRODUCTION
Pennsylvania, is now found. In the spring of
1753, they moved forward to the site of the
modern Venango, and there prepared to descend
to the junction of the Alleghany and Mononga
hela in the year after that.
It was now that Governor Dinwiddie, alarmed
at what he deemed an invasion of Virginia, and
at the prospect of a transfer of the horrors of
the French and Indian border warfare from the
frontier of New England to the borders of his
own colony, sent the youthful George Washing
ton to make a formal demand that the French
leave. Legardeur de St. Pierre, commanding
the French, replied, "I do not think myself
obliged to obey."
Accordingly Dinwiddie raised three hundred
1 ' raw recruits, ' ' and sent them to occupy the
favorable site for a fort that Washington had
seen, meantime, at the forks of the Ohio.
William Trent, a trader, and a gang of back
woodsmen went with them, and on an unnamed
day in April, 1754, these backwoodsmen began
building a fort where Pittsburg now stands.
Their work was apparently in vain. On April
17th, five hundred Frenchmen, with eighteen
cannon, came down the Alleghany River, under
Captain Claude Pecaudy de Contrecceur, and
drove them away.
Washington's attack on the French force
under Ensign Coulon de Jumonville (May 28,

INTRODUCTION 13
1754) followed, and that is usually called the
beginning, in America, of the Seven Years'
War. Then by finesse, rather than by force of
arms, the French, under Coulon de Villiers,
drove Washington from Fort Necessity (July 4,
1755)- Though as yet not formally declared,
the great war was well on.
In the meantime (on February 20, of this
year), the "trusty and well-beloved Edward
Braddock," with two regiments of British
soldiers, arrived at Hampton, Virginia. An
intercolonial conference was held at Alexandria,
beginning on April 14, to consider measures for
the prosecution of the war, at which Governor
William Shirley, whom Eastburn mentions, was
present. The plans made here included attacks on Aca
dia, Crown Point, Niagara, and Fort Duquesne,
as the post at the forks of the Ohio was called.
Shirley ' ' and Dinwiddie stood in the front of the
opposition to French designs ; " to Shirley was
assigned the work of capturing Niagara, and he
was placed next in rank to Braddock, in the
command of the British forces in America.
Braddock himself undertook the task of march
ing through the wilderness to Fort Duquesne.
How Braddock, with 1,373 picked men, reached
Turtle Creek, eight miles from Fort Duquesne,
on July 7, crossed the Monongahela on the ninth,
and was overwhelmed by an inferior force of

14 INTROD UCTION
French and Indians on the site of the modern
village of Braddock, Pennsylvania, a little later,
need not be told here in detail. The important
fact is that the French triumph was complete
and seemingly decisive. They not only held
control of the fort at the forks, but through the
shameful retreat of the British to Philadelphia,
the French were left in undisputed control of
the passes of the Alleghanies.
That the British confirmed their control of
Acadia, in this season, by expelling certain
French families from the territory; and that
the forces under William Johnson checked the
French under Baron Dieskau at Lake George,
afforded the people of Pennsylvania and Virginia
no consolation. For the evil that Governor
Dinwiddie had foreseen was upon them. The
horrors of the French and Indian wars that, for
half a century, had desolated the frontiers of
New England, now loomed over the Alleghanies.
" If you consider it necessary to make the
Indians to act offensively against the English,
his Majesty will approve of your using that
expedient," said a letter dated September 6,
1754, from the French colonial minister to
Governor Duquesne, of Canada. Duquesne
thought that expedient necessary. Captain Du
mas succeeded Contrecceur in the command of
Fort Duquesne, and on July 24, 1756, wrote to
the minister, saying :

INTRODUCTION 15

" M. de Contrecceur had not been gone a week
before I had six or seven different war parties
in the field at once, always accompanied by
Frenchmen. I have succeeded in ruining the
three adjacent provinces, Pennsylvania, Mary
land, and Virginia, driving off the inhabitants
and totally destroying the settlements over a
tract of country thirty leagues wide, reckoning
from the line of Fort Cumberland."
And the Rev. Claude Godfroy Coquard, S.J.,
in a letter to his brother, said in reference to
the work of these war parties (N. Y. Col. MSS.,
vol. x., p. 528):
" The Indians do not make any prisoners;
they kill all they meet, men, women, and chil
dren. Every day they have some in their
kettle, and after having abused the women and
maidens, they slaughter or burn them."
On one occasion a band of these Indians
swooped down to within sixty miles of Phila
delphia. A company of the harassed settlers,
in their desperation, came in from the frontier,
bringing with them the mutilated bodies of
murdered friends and relatives, which they
displayed at the doors of the Assembly chamber,
while they bitterly cursed the opponents of an
active war against the savage intruders.
It was in the midst of the red aggressions of
the war parties sent out by Dumas that Robert
Eastburn, a deacon in the First Presbyterian

16 INTRODUCTION
Church of Philadelphia, left home with a party
of traders (among them being his own son, a
lad seventeen years old), and traveled away into
the wilderness, bound to Oswego, the most
advanced post of the American frontier — the
one nearest to the triumphant French — to
engage in the fur-trade with such Indians as he
might find in that region. And he did that,
too, when he knew that Oswego would be in
imminent danger of attack while he was there,
and that there was no small probability that his
party would be intercepted while he was on the
way, as, indeed, actually happened.
Robert Eastburn was, in fact, one of the
many heroes of commerce, now well-nigh for
gotten. It was characteristic of such a man to
take his gun and join the soldiers, when a squad
was sent out to hunt the enemy. And no one
is surprised to learn that he was cool enough to
bring down two at one shot, when the enemy
were found.
The story of the fight in which Eastburn was
captured is told, with some variations in the
statements of facts, in volume x. of the New
York Colonial Manuscripts. The account most
nearly accurate is that in Journal of Occurances
in Canada from October, 1755, to June, 1756.
Parkman has the most interesting modern
account in his Montcalm and Wolfe.
At the opening of the campaign of 1756, the

INTRODUCTION 17
French held Ticonderoga, as well as Fort Du
quesne, and all the borders of the Great Lakes,
except the one post of Oswego. While yet the
snow lay deep upon the ground in the northern
part of New York, they learned from the Indians
of the Iroquois tribes, who were more or less
friendly to them, that the English contemplated
sending an expedition, by way of Oswego and
Lake Ontario, to attack Niagara, while another
expedition would try to reduce Ticonderoga and
Crown Point. The. Indians also told the French
that in pursuance of the English intention to
attack Niagara, immense quantities of provi
sions had been sent forward toward Oswego,
while the winter roads were good, and that
many of these supplies were piled up in the
storehouses at the carrying-place between the
Mohawk and Wood Creek.
Accordingly Vaudreuil, who had meantime
become governor of Canada, not only did what he
could to strengthen Ticonderoga and Niagara,
but he planned a counter-stroke for the destruc
tion of the forts and stores at the Mohawk-
Wood Creek carrying-place. He also planned
an attack on Oswego, but that was to come later.
To raid the carrying-place, Vaudreuil sent
Joseph Chaussegros de L6ry, a distinguished
Canadian officer (Vaudreuil was partial to the
Canadian officers), with three hundred and
sixty-two picked men — soldiers, rangers, and

18 INTRODUCTION
Indians — from Montreal to the mission of
Oswegatchie (now Ogdensburg), and thence by
trails through the woods to the head of the
Mohawk Valley. After great hardships, due to
a lack of provisions and the rigor of the weather
(March is a harsh month in the Adirondack
region), this force arrived on the road leading
from Fort William, at the head of navigation
on the Mohawk, to Fort Bull, at the head of
navigation on Wood Creek, at 5 130 o'clock 00
the morning of March 26, 1756. As it happened,
they found there a party of twelve teamsters,
including an unnamed negro, who were on their
way with provisions and traders' goods to Fort
Bull. These they attacked, and killed or cap
tured all the party except the negro.
The negro escaped to Fort William and gave
the alarm. The French, on questioning their
prisoners, under threat of torture, learned that
only a small garrison — thirty men — held Fort
Bull, and De L6ry determined to attack it.
Nearly all the Indians in the party objected to
this attack, being well satisfied with the plunder
obtained from the teamsters, but De L6ry, with
a little brandy to rouse their courage, persuaded
a dozen of them to go with him, and the rest of
them to guard the road from Fort William, and
then he marched to the attack.
As De Lery approached Fort Bull, some of
the Indians whooped, and thus gave the alarm

INTRODUCTION 19
to the garrison, who closed their gate in time
to shut out the French, but the French, by a
dash forward, were able to secure positions at
all the loopholes and prevent the garrison using
them. De L6ry then called on the garrison to
surrender, but in spite of the advantages the
French had secured, and in spite of inferior
numbers, the heroic band replied with muskets
and hand grenades.
The fight lasted for an hour. At the end of
that time the French succeeded in chopping
down the gate, and as it fell, they rushed in and
massacred every person they could find. Two
or three escaped death by hiding. The stores
were destroyed and the fort was burned.
In the meantime Captain Williams, command
ing at Fort William, had sent out a scouting
party. Behind this party marched Deacon East-
burn, bearing a musket that had been carefully
loaded and primed. And what the result of
that movement was, Eastburn shall tell for
himself. John R. Spears

EASTBURN NARRATIVE
PHILADELPHIA: WILLIAM DUNLAP, 1758

Title-page and text reprinted from a copy of the
original edition in the Library of Con
gress, Washington, D. C.

A FAITHFUL
NARRATIVE,

o F

The many Dangers and Sufferings, as well as
wonderful Deliverances of Robert East-
burn, during his late Captivity, among the
Indians: Together with fome Remarks
upon the Country of Canada, and the
Religion, and Policy of its Inhahitatnts ; the
whwle intermixed with devout RefUStiom.

By ROBERT EASTBURN.

Publijbed at tbe eamefi Request of many
Friends, Jot the Benefit of the Author.

With a recommendatory Preface, by the
Rev. GILBERT TENN ENT.

Psalm 1*4. 6, 7. Bltffid be iht Lord, who hath vet give* hi *1>
hi * Frey to their teeth : our Soul ii efcaptd, ai a Hird out if
the Srinre of ike Fotvier : Tbe S**tl il broke; and vie *re ffiapMl,
Piaxm ipj, J, 4. liltfi tbcterd, QmySoid; and h'ifft net dlf
hii Btntfltt l Hbo rtdfemtth thy Life (rem DtftrttHh* ; vii*
erowattb thee with loving Kindmfi, and tender Mtreiii.

PHILADELPHIA:
Printed by William Diwla?, ijfo

EASTBURN NARRATIVE 25

Preface.
Candid Reader,
The Author (and Subjedt) of the enfu-
ing Narrative (who is a Deacon pf our
Church, and has been fo for many Years) is of
fuch an eftablifhed good Character, that he
needs no Recommendation of others, where he
is known : a Proof of which, was the general Joy
of the Inhabitants of this City, occafioned by his
Return from a mif erable Captivity ! Together
with the Readinefs of divers Perfons, to con
tribute to the Relief of himfelf , and neceffitous
Family, without any Requeft of his, or the leaft
Motion of that Tendency ! — But, feeing the fol
lowing Sheets, are like to fpread into many
Places, where he is not known, permit me to
fay, That upon long Acquaintance, I have found
him to be a Perfon of Candor, Integrity, and
fincere Piety; whofe Teftimony, may with
Safety, be depended upon ; which give his Nar
rative the greater Weight, and may induce to
read it with the greater Pleafure ; The Defign
of it is evidently Pious, the Matters contained
in it, and Manner of handling them, will, I

26 EASTBURN NARRATIVE
hope, be efteemed by the Impartial, to be enter
taining and improving : I heartily wifh it may,
by the divine Benediction, be of great and
durable Service. I am thy fincere Servant, in
the Gofpel of Jefus Chrifl. Gilbert Tennent.
Philadelphia, fan 19, 1758.

EASTBURN NARRATIVE 27

Kind Readers,
On my Return from my Captivity, I
had no Thoughts of publifhing any
Obfervations of mine to the World, in this
Manner; as I had no Opportunity to keep a
Journal, and my Memory being broken, and
Capacity fmall, I was difinclined to undertake it;
but a Number of my Friends were preffing in
their Perfwafions, that I fhould do it; with whofe
Motion I complied, from a fincere Regard to
God, my King, and Country, fo far as I know
my own Heart: The following Pages contain,
as far as I can remember, the moft material
Paffages that happened within the Compafs of.
my Obfervation, while a Prifoner in Canada;
the Fadts therein related are certainly true, but
the Way of reprefenting fome Things efpecially,
is not fo regular, clear, and ftrong, as I could
wifh ; but I truft it will be fome Apology, that
I am not fo much acquainted with Performances
of this Kind, as many others; who may be
hereby excited to give better Reprefentations
of Things, far beyond my Knowledge.
I remain Your unfeigned Well-Wifher,
and humble Servant,
Robert Eastburn.
Philadelphia, Jan. iq, 1758.

EASTBURN NARRATIVE 29

A Faithful Narrative, &c.
ABOUT Thirty Tradefmen, and myfelf,
arrived at Captain Williams's Fort,* (at
the Carrying Place) in our Way to Of-
wego, the 26th of March, 1756; who informed
me, that he was like to be cumbered in the
Fort, and therefore advifed us to take the Indian-
Houfe for our Lodging. About Ten o'Clock
next Day, a Negro Man came running down the
Road, and reported, That our Slaymen were all
taken by the Enemy ; Captain Williams, on hear
ing this, fent a Serjeant, and about 12 Men, to fee
if it was true ; I being at the Indian- Houfe, and
not thinking myfelf fafe there, in Cafe of an
* This fort stood where Rome, New York, now stands. It
was erected by Captain William Williams, of Sir William
Pepperell's regiment, to guard the south, or Mohawk, end of
the carrying-place between the Mohawk River and Wood
Creek, in the route from Albany to Oswego. It was a pali
saded enclosure with, presumably, a two-story, loopholed log-
house at each of two corners, to give the garrison a command
ing view of the enemy, in case of attack. The fort was
destroyed by the English after the French captured Oswego,
and a little later Fort Stanwix was built in its place, from
plans drawn by James Montresor, director of engineers and
lieutenant-colonel in the British army in 1758.

30 EASTS URN NARR A TIVE
Attack, and being alfo fincerely willing to ferve
my King and Country, in the belt Manner I could
in my prefent Circumfiances, afked him if he
would take Company? He replied, with all his
Heart! Hereupon, I fell into the Rear, with my
Arms, and marched after them; when we had
advanced about a Quarter of a Mile, we heard a
Shot, followed with doleful Cries of a dying
Man, which excited me to advance, in order to
difcover the Enemy, who I foon perceived were
prepared to receive us: In this difficult Situa
tion, feeing a large Pine-Tree near, I repaired
to it for Shelter; and while the Enemy were
viewing our Party, I having a good Chance of
killing two at a Shot, quickly difcharged at
them, but could not certainly know what Execu
tion was done, till fome Time after ; our Com
pany likewife difcharged, and retreated : Seeing
myfelf in Danger of being furrounded, I was
obliged to Retreat a different Courfe, and to my
great Surprize, fell into a deep Mire, which the
Enemy, by following my Track in a light Snow,
foon difcovered, and obliged me to furrender,
to prevent a cruel Death. (They flood ready to
drive their Darts into my Body, in cafe I refufed
to deliver up my Arms.) Prefently after I was
taken, I was furrounded by a great Number, who
flripped me of my Cloathing, Hat, and Neckcloth
(fo that I had nothing left but a Flannel Vefl,
without Sleeves) put a Rope on my Neck, bound

EASTB URN NARR A TIVE 31
my Arms fafl behind me, put a long Band round
my Body, and a large Pack on my Back, ftruck me
on the Head (a fevere Blow,) and drove me through
the Woods before them : It is not eafy to con
ceive, how diftreffing fuch a Condition is ! In the
mean Time, I endeavoured with all my little re
maining Strength, to lift up my Eyes to God, from
whom alone I could with Reafon expedt Relief !
Seventeen or Eighteen Prif oners, were foon
added to our Number, one of which informed
me, that the Indians were angry with me, and
reported to fome of their Chiefs, that I had fired
on them, wounded one, and killed another; for
which he doubted they would kill me. Here
upon I confidered that the Hearts of all Men are
in the Hand of God, and that one Hair of our
Head cannot fall to the Ground without his
Permiffion : I had not as yet learned what
Numbers the Enemy's Parties confifled of ; there
being only about ioo Indians who had lain in
Ambufh on the Road, to kill or take into Cap
tivity all that paffed between the two Forts.
Here an Interpreter came to me, to enquire
what Strength Capt. Williams had to defend his
Fort? After a fhort Paufe, I gave fuch a dif-
couraging Anfwer (yet confiftent with Truth) as
prevented their attacking it, and of Confequence
the Eff ufion of much Blood ; a gracious Provi
dence, which I defire ever to retain a grateful
Senf e of ; for hereby it evidently appeared, that

32 EA STB URN NARR A TI VE
I was fuffered to fall into the Hands of the
Enemy, to promote the Good of my Countrymen,
to better Purpofe than I could, by continuing
with them; verily the Almighty is wife in
Council, and wonderful in Working.
In the mean Time, the Enemy determined to
deftroy Bull's Fort,* (at the Head of Wood-
Creek) which they foon effected, all being put to
the Sword, except five Perfons, the Fort burnt,
the Provifion and Powder deftroyed; (faving
only a little for their own Ufe) then they retired
to the Woods, and joined their main Body,
which inclufive, confifted of 400 French, and
300 Indians, commanded by one of the principal
Gentlemen f of Quebec ; as foon as they got to
gether (having a Prieft with them) they fell on
their Knees, and returned Thanks for their
Vidtory ; an Example this, worthy of Imitation !
an Example which may make prophane pre
tended Proteftants blufh, (if they are not loft to
all Senfe of Shame) who inftead of acknowl
edging a God, or Providence, in their military
Undertakings, are continually reproaching him
with Oaths and Curfes ; is it any Wonder, that
* Fort Bull was a mere palisade wall around store-houses.
It was garrisoned by thirty men from Shirley's regiment. De
Lery attacked it with two hundred and sixty-five men.
tThe commander was Joseph Chaussegros de Lery, an
active Canadian officer, who saw service at Fort Duquesne and
Crown Point. He is not to be confounded with Gaspard
Chaussegros de L6ry, chief engineer of Canada, who was
called " a great ignoramus."

EASTB URN NARR A TI VE 33
the Attempts of fuch, are blafted with Dif ap
pointment and Difgrace !
The Enemy had feveral wounded Men, both
French and Indians among them, which they
carried on their Backs; befides which, about
Fifteen of their Number were killed, and of us
about Forty : it being by this Time near dark,
and fome Indians drunk, they only marched
about 4 Miles and encamped; the Indians
untied my Arms, cut Hemlock Bowes, and
ftrewed round the Fire, tied my Band to two
Trees, with my Back on the green Bowes, (by
the Fire) covered me with an old Blanket, and
lay down acrofs my Band, on each Side, to pre
vent my Efcape, while they flept.
Sunday the 28th, rofe early, the Commander
ordered a hafty Retreat towards Canada, for
fear of General Johnfon ; * in the mean Time,
one of our Men faid, he underftood the French
and Indians defigned to join a ftrong Party, and
fall on Ofwego.f before our Forces there, could
* Sir William Johnson. On learning from the Indians that
the enemy had come to the carrying-place, he hurried rein
forcements up the Mohawk, but arrived too late to intercept
them. t Near the end of the seventeenth century Governor Bello
mont, of New York, suggested that the French might be barred
out of the Iroquois country by building a fort where Oswego,
New York, now stands, but nothing was done in the matter
until Governor Burnet built a ' ' stone house of strength " there ,
with his private funds, in the spring of 1727. This house
soon became a noted trading-station, for it proved a formid-

34 EA S TB URN NA RRA TI VE
get any Provifion or Succours ; having, as they
thought, put a Stop to our relieving them for a
Time: When we encamped in the Evening,
the Commanding-Officer ordered the Indians to
bring me to his Tent, and afked me, by an
Interpreter, If I thought General Johnfon would
follow them, I told him I judged not, but
rather thought he would proceed to Ofwego
(which was indeed my Sentiment, grounded
upon prior Information, and then expreffed to
prevent the Execution of their Defign.) He
farther enquired, what was my Trade? I told
him that of a Smith; he then perf waded me,
when I got to Canada, to fend for my Wife, * for
faid he, you can, get a rich Living there;' but
when he faw that he could not prevail, he afked
no more Queftions, but commanded me to return
to my Indian Mafter: Having this Opportunity
of Converfation, I informed the General, that
his Indian Warriors had ftripped me of my
Cloathing, and would be glad he would be good
enough to order me fome Relief; to which he
replied, that I would get Cloaths when I came
to Canada, which was cold Comfort to one
aimoft frozen! On my Return, the Indians
perceiving I was unwell, and could not eat their
able rival to the French stations intended to supply the wants
of the Indians on the borders of the Great Lakes. When
Montcalm captured the place (Saturday, August 14, 1756), one
of the defending structures was known on the frontier as Fort
Rascal, because of the character of the work done by its builders.

EA S TB URN NA RRA TIVE 35
coarfe Food, ordered fome Chocolate (which
they had brought from the Carrying- Place) to
be boiled for me, and feeing me eat that,
appeared pleafed. A ftrong Guard was kept
every Night; One of our Men being weakened
by his Wounds, and rendered unable to keep
Pace with them, was killed and fcalped on the
Road ! — I was all this Time aimoft naked, travel
ing through deep Snow, and wading through
Rivers cold as Ice !
After Seven Days March, we arrived at Lake
Ontario, where I eat fome Horfe-Flefh, which
tafted very agreeably, for to the hungry Man,
as Solomon obferves, every bitter Thing is
fweet (a). The French carried several of their
wounded Men all the Way upon their Backs, and
(many of them wore no Breeches in their Travels
a On the Friday before we arrived at the Lake, the Indians
killed a Porcupine, which is in bignefs equal to a large Rac
oon, with fhort Legs, is covered with long Hair, intermixed
with fharp Quills, which are their Defence; It is indeed dan
gerous coming very near them, becaufe they caft their Quills *
(which are like barbed Irons or Darts) at any Thing that
oppof eth them, which when they peirce, are not eafy to be
drawn out ; for, though their Points are fharp and f mooth, they
have a kind of Beard, which makes them flick f aft : However,
the Indians threw it on a large Fire, burnt off the Hair and
Quills, roafted and eat of it, with whom I had a Part.
* It is now known that porcupines do not cast or throw their
quills, and are not able to do so, though commonly believed
to do so, at Eastburn's time. Many a backwoodsman has
eaten a porcupine. When young the flesh is as good as that
of a 'possum, they say.

36 EASTB URN NARR A TI VE
in this cold Seafon, they are ftrong, hardy
Men.) The Indians had Three of their Party
wounded, which they likewife carried on their
Backs, I wifh there was more of this Hardnefs,
fo neceffary for War, in our Nation, which would
open a more encouraging Scene than appears at
prefent! The Prif oners were fo divided, that
but few could Converfe together on our March,
and (which was ftill more difagreeable and
diftreffing) an Indian, who had a large Bunch
of green Scalps, taken off our Men's Heads,
marched before me, and another with a fharp
Spear behind, to drive me after him; by which
Means, the Scalps were very often clofe to my
Face, and as we marched, they frequently every
Day gave the Dead Shout,* which was repeated
as many Times, as there were Captives and
Scalps taken! In the Midft of this gloomy
Scene, when I confidered, how many poor Souls
were hurried into a vaft Eternity, with Doubts
of their Unfitnefs for fuch a Change, it made
me lament and expoftulate in the Manner
following; O Sin what haft thou done! what
Defolation and Ruin haft thou brought into this
mif erable World ? What am I, that I fhould be
thus fpared! My Afflidtions are certainly far
* Schoolcraft writes Sa-sa-kuon to give an idea of the dead
shout. It was the whoop by which the Indians announced,
when approaching a village, their victory, and the number of
scalps and prisoners taken.

EA STB URN NARR A TIVE 37
lefs than my Sins deferve ! Through the exceed
ing Riches of divine Goodnefs and Grace, I
was in this diftreffing Situation fupported and
comforted, by thefe Paffages of f acred Scripture,
viz. That our light Afflidtions, which laft but
for a Moment, fhall work for us a far more
exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory. And
that, though no Afflidtions are for the prefent
joyous, but grievous; yet neverthelefs, they
afterwards yield the peaceable Fruits of Right-
eoufnefs, to them who are exercifed thereby.
And farther, that all Things fhall work together
for Good, to them that love God; to them who
are the Called, according to his Purpofe. But
to return,
I May, with Juftice and Truth obferve, That
our Enemies leave no Stone unturned to com-
pafs our ruin; they pray, work, and travel to
bring it about, and are unwearied in the Purfuit ;
while many among us fleep in a Storm, that has
laid a good Part of our Country defolate, and
threatens the Whole with Deftrudtion : O may
the Almighty awake us, caufe us to fee our
Danger, before it be too late, and grant us Sal
vation! O that we may be of good Courage,
and play the Man, for our People, and the
Cities of our God! But alas, I am obliged to
turn my Face towards cold Canada, among
inveterate Enemies, and innumerable Dangers!
O Lord, I pray thee, be my fafe Guard; thou

38 EA STB URN NA RRA TI VE
haft already covered me in the Hollow of thy
Hand ; when Death caft Darts all around me, and
many fell on every Side, I beheld thy Salvation !
April 4th, Several French Battoes met us,
and brought a large Supply of Provifion; the
Sight of which caufed great Joy, for we were
in great Want ; then a Place was foon erected
to celebrate Mafs in, which being ended, we all
went over the Mouth of a River, where it
empties itfelf into the Eaft-End of Lake Ontario,
a great Part of our Company fet off on Foot
towards Ofwegotchy ; * while the reft were
ordered into Battoes, and carried towards the
Entrance of St Lawrence (where that River
takes its Beginning) but by reafon of bad
Weather, Wind, Rain, and Snow, whereby the
Waters of the Lake were troubled, we were
obliged to lie-by, and hall our Battoes on Shore ;
here I lay on the cold Shore two Days. Tuef-
day fet off, and entered the Head of St. Law-
* Oswegotchie. It was a settlement of Iroquois Indians
who had been converted by Abbe Piquet, a French missionary.
It was established in 1749 where Ogdensburg, New York, now
stands, and it was intended for the promotion of French polit
ical and trade interests, as well as the propagation of religion.
Piquet called it "La Presentation." In 1753 it contained a pali
saded fort, " flanked with block houses ; a chapel, a storehouse,
a barn, a stable, ovens, a sawmill, broad fields of corn and
beans, and three villages of Iroquois, containing in all 49 bark
lodges each holding three or four families, . . and as time
went on this number was increased." — Parkman. The fort
was armed with five two-pounder cannon and garrisoned with
a squad of French soldiers.

EA STB URN NARR A TIVE 39
rence, in the Afternoon; came too late at Night,
made Fires, but did not lie down to fleep;
embarked long before Day, and after fome Miles
Progrefs down the River, we faw many Fires
on our Right- Hand, which were made by the
Men who left us, and went by Land ; with them
we ftaid till Day, and then again embarked in
our Battoes; the Weather was very bad (it
fnowed faft all Day) near Night arrived at
Ofwegotchy; I was aimoft ftarved to Death,
but hoped to flay in this Indian Town till warm
Weather; flept in an Indian Wigwam, rofe early
in the Morning (being Thurfday) and foon to
my Grief dif covered my Difappointment ! Sev
eral of the Prif oners had Leave to tarry here,
but I muft go 200 Miles farther down Stream,
to another Indian Town; the Morning being
extreamly cold, I applied to a French Merchant
(or Trader) for fome old Rags of Cloathing,
for I was aimoft naked, but to no Purpofe !
About Ten o'Clock, was ordered into a Battoe,
on our Way down the River, with 8 or 9
Indians, one of which was the Man wounded in
the Skirmifh before mentioned; at Night we
went on Shore, the Snow being much deeper
than before, we cleared it away, and made a
large Fire ; here, when the wounded Indian caft
his Eyes upon me, his old Gnidge revived, he
took my Blanket from me, and commanded me
to dance round the Fire Bare-foot, and fing the

40 EASTBURN NARRA TIVE
Prifoners Song, which I utterly refufed; this
furprized one of my fellow Prifoners, who told
me they would put me to Death (for he under-
ftood what they faid) he therefore tried to
perfuade me to comply, but I defired him to let
me alone, and was through great Mercy, enabled
to rejedt his Importunity with Abhorrence!
The Indian alfo continued urging, faying, you
fhall dance and fing; but apprehending my
Compliance finful, I determined to perfift in
declining it at all Adventures, and to leave the
Iflue to the divine Difpofal ! The Indian per
ceiving his Orders difobeyed, was fired with
Indignation, and endeavoured to pufh me into
the Fire, which I leapt over, and he being
weak with his Wounds, and not being aflifted
by any of his Brethren, was obliged to defift :
For this gracious Interpofure of Providence, in
preferving me both from Sin and Danger, I
defire to blef s God while I live !
Friday Morning, was aimoft perifhed with
Cold. Saturday, proceeded on our Way, and
foon came in Sight of the upper Part of the
Inhabitants of Canada; here I was in great
Hopes of fome Relief, not knowing the Manner
of the Indians, who do not make many Stops
among the French, in their return from War,
till they get Home : However when they came
near fome rapid Falls of Water, one of my
fellow Prifoners, and feveral Indians, together

EA STB URN NA RRA TI VE 41

with myfelf, were put on Shore, to travel by
Land, which pleafed me well, it being much
warmer running on the Snow, than lying ftill
in the Battoe; we paft by feveral French
Houfes, but ftopt at none; the Veffel going
down a rapid Stream, it required hafte to keep
Pace with her, we croffed over a Point of Land,
and found the Battoe waiting for us, as near
the Shore as the Ice would permit: Here we
left St. Lawrence and turned up Conafadauga
River (b) but it being frozen up, we hauled our
Battoe on Shore, and each of us took our Share
of her Loading on our Backs, and marched
" The River St. Lawrence, at Lake Ontario, takes its Begin
ning through feveral Iflands, by which we are in no neceffity of
coming within Sight of Frontenac, when we go down the River ;
it is fmooth Water from thence to Ofwegotche (or as it is
called by the French Legalef) but from hence to Montreal,
the Water is more fwift, with a Number of rapid Streams,
though not dangerous to pafs through with fmall Boats and
Bark Canoes, provided the Stearfmen are careful, and ac
quainted with the Places. In tranfporting Provifion and
warlike Stores up Stream from Canada to Lake Ontario, there
is a neceffity of unloading Battoes at feveral of the rapid
Streams, and hauling them empty through fhoal Water near
the Shore ; and carrying the Loading by Land to where the
Water is more Slack ; though there be feveral of thefe Places,
yet the Land Carriage is not very far: The Land on both
Sides the River, appears fertile a great Part of the Way from
the Lake to Montreal; but the nearer the Latter the worfe,
more mirey and ftony: The Timber is White Pine, Afh,
Maple, Beach, Hickory, Hemlock, Spruce ; and from the Lake
about 150 Miles down, plenty of White Oak, but none about
Montreal of that Kind.

42 EASTBURN NARRATIVE
towards Conafadauga,* an Indian Town, which
was our defigned Port, but could not reach it
that Night; Came to a French Houfe. cold,
weary, and hungry; here my old Friend, the
wounded Indian, again appeared, and related to
the Frenchman, the Affair of my refufing to
dance, who immediately aflifted the Indian to
ftrip me of my Flannel Veft, before mentioned,
which was my All : Now they were ref olved to
compel me to dance and fing ! The Frenchman
was as violent as the Indian, in promoting this
Impofition; but the Women belonging to the
Houfe, feeing the rough Ufage I had, took pity
on me, and refcued me out of their Hands, till
their Heat was over, and prevailed with the
Indian to excufe me from dancing; but he
infifted that I muft be fhaved, and then he would
let me alone (I had at that Time a long Beard,
which the Indians hate) with this Motion I
readily complied, and then the Indian feemed
content. Sunday, April nth, Set off towards Conafa
dauga, traveled about two Hours, and then faw
* A mission settlement of Indians containing a village of
Iroquois and another of Algonquins. It was called also the
Lake of the Two Mountains mission. The site is " a point on
the St. Lawrence, just at the [west] extremity of the island
of Montreal, where the river widens into a kind of lake. Two
slight eminences, which soon obtained the name of mountains,
gave it its name. Near these the mission was begun in
1720." — Shea's American Catholic Missions.

EA STB URN NA RRA TI VE 43
the Town, over a great River, which was ftill
frozen; the Indians ftoped, and we were foon
joined with a Number of our own Company,
which we had not feen for feveral Days : The
Prifoners, in Number Eight, were ordered to
lay down our Packs, and be painted; the
wounded Indian painted me, and put a Belt of
Wampum round my Neck, inftead of the Rope
which I had worn 400 Miles. Then fet off
towards the Town on the Ice, which was four
Miles over; our Heads were not allowed to be
covered, left our fine Paint fhould be hid, the
Weather in the mean Time very cold, like to
Freeze our Ears ; after we had advanced nearer to
the Town, the Indian Women came out to meet
us, and relieved their Hufbands of their Packs.
As foon as we landed at Conafadauga, a large
Body of Indians came and incompaff ed us round,
and ordered the Prifoners to dance and fing
the Prifoners Song, (which I was ftill enabled
to decline) at the conclufion of which, the
Indians gave a Shout, and opened the Ring to
let us run, and then fell on us with their Fifts,
and knocked feveral down ; in the mean Time,
one ran before to diredt us to an Indian Houfe,
which was open, and as foon as we got in, we
were beat no more; my Head was fore with
beating, and pained me feveral Days. The
Squaws were kind to us, gave us boiled Corn
and Beans to eat, and Fire to warm us, which

44 EASTB URN NARRA TIVE
was a great Mercy, for I was both cold and
hungry : This Town lies about 30 Miles North-
Weft from Montreal, I ftaid here till the Ice
was gone, which was about Ten Days, and
then was fent to Cohnewago, in Company with
fome Indians, who when they came within
Hearing, gave Notice by their Way of fhouting,
that they had a Prifoner, on which the whole
Town rofe to welcome me, which was the more
diftreffing, as there was no other Prifoner in
their Hands; when we came near Shore, a flout
Indian took hold of me, and hauled me into the
Water, which was Knee-deep, and very cold : As
foon as I got a-fhore, the Indians gathered round
me, and ordered me to dance and fing, now
when I was ftiff with Cold and Wet, and lying
long in the Cannoe ; here I only ftamped to pre
pare for my Race, and was incompaffed with
about 500 Indians, who danced and fung, and at
laft gave a Shout, and opened the Circle ; about
150 young Lads made ready to Pelt me with Dirt
and gravel Stones, and on my fetting off gave me
a flout Volley, without my fuffering great Hurt ;
but an Indian feeing me run, met me, and held
me f aft, till the Boys had ftored themfelves again
with Dirt and fmall Stones, and let me run ; but
then I fared much worfe than before, for a fmall
Stone among the Mud hit my Right- Eye, and my
Head and Face were fo covered with Dirt, that I
could f carce fee my Way ; but dif covering a Door

EASTS URN NA RRA TI VE 46
of an Indian Houfe ftanding open, I run in : From
this Retreat I was foon hauled, in order to be
pelted more ; but the Indian Women being more
merciful interpofed, took me into a Houfe,
brought me Water to wafh, and gave me boiled
Corn and Beans to eat. The next Day, I was
brought to the Center of the Town, and cried
according to the Indian Cuftom, in order to be
fent to a Family of Indians, 200 Miles up
Stream, at Of wegotchy, and there to be adopted,
and abuf ed no more : To this End, I was de
livered to three young Men, who faid I was
their Brother, and fet forward on our Way to
the aforefaid Town, with about 20 more In
dians, but by reafon of bad Weather, we were
obliged to encamp on a cold, ftony Shore, three
Days, and then proceeded on ; called at Conafa
dauga, ftaid there about a Week, in which
Time, I went and viewed four Houfes at a
Diftance from the Town, about a Quarter of a
Mile from each other; in which, are reprefented
in large Paint Work, the Sufferings of our Sav
iour, with Defign to draw the Indians to the
Papift's Religion; the Work is curioufly done:
A little farther Hand three Houfes near together,
on the Top of a high Hill, which they call Mount
Calvary ,* with three large Croffes before them,
* Abb£ Piquet, who established the mission at Oswegatchie,
erected this Calvary and Way of the Cross. It " is even now
a pilgrimage worthy of attention." — Shea.

46 EA STB URN NARR A TIVE
which compleat the whole Reprefentation : To
all thefe Houfes, the Priefts and Indians repair,
in performing their grand Proceffions, which
takes up much Time (c).
Set off on our Journey for Ofwegotchy,
againft a rapid Stream, and being long in it, and
our Provifion growing fhort, the Indians put
to Shore a little before Night ; my Lot was to
get Wood, others were ordered to get Fires, and
fome to Hunt ; our Kettle was put over the Fire
with fome pounded Indian Corn, and after it
had boiled about two Hours, my oldeft Indian
Brother, returned with a She Beaver, big with
Young, which he foon cut to Pieces, and threw
into the Kettle, together with the Guts, and took
the four young Beavers, whole as they came
out from the Dam, and put them likewife into
0 The pains the Papifts take to propagate such a bloody and
abfurd Religion as theirs, is truly amazing! This brings to
my Remembrance, the following Difcourfe, I had with two
French Priefts in my Captivity ; one of them asked me, if I
was a Catholic ; apprehending he meant the Romifh Religion, I
anf wered no ; he replied, no Bon. On my relating the above
to a fellow Prifoner, he faid, I had anf wered wrong, becaufe
by the Word Catholic he meant a Chriftian: Some Time
after, I was again asked by the other Prieft, if I was a Cath
olic, I anf wered yes, but not a Roman Catholic ; at which he
f miled, and asked, if I was a Lutheran. I replied, no ; he again
inquired whether I was a Calvanift, I told him I was ; to which
he faid, with warmth, no Bon ! no Bon ! which fignifieth, it is
not good, it is not good. O ! may not the Zeal of Papifts, in
propagating Superftition and Idolatry, make Proteftants
afhamed of their Lukewarmnefs, in promoting the Religion
of the Bible!

EASTBURN NARRA TIVE 47
the Kettle, and when all was well boiled, gave
each one of us a large Difhfull of the Broth, of
which we eat freely, and then Part of the old
Beaver, the Tail of which was divided equally
among us, there being Eight at our Fire ; the
four young Beavers were cut in the Middle, and
each of us got half of a Beaver; I watched an
Opportunity to hide my Share (having fatisfied
myfelf before that tender Difh came to Hand)
which if they had feen, would have much dif-
pleafed them. The other Indians catched young
Mufk-Rats, run a Stick through their Bodies, and
roafted, without being fkinned or gutted, and
fo eat them. Next Morning haftened on our
Journey, which continued feveral Days, till we
came near Ofwegotchy, where we landed about
three Miles from the Town, on the contrary Side
of the River; here I was to be adopted, my
Father and Mother that I had never feen before
were waiting, and ordered me into an Indian
Houfe, where we were directed to fit down filent
for a confiderable Time, the Indians appeared
very fad, and my Mother began to cry, and con
tinued crying aloud for fome Time, and then
dried up her Tears, and received me for her Son,
and took me over the River to the Indian Town ;
the next Day I was ordered to go to Mafs with
them, but I refufed once and again, yet they
continued their Importunity feveral Days, fay
ing it was good to go to Mafs, but I ftill refufed ;

48 EA STB URN NA RRA TI VE
and feeing they could not prevail with me, they
feemed much difpleafed with their new Son (d).
I was then fent over the River, to be employed
in hard Labour, as a Punifhment for not going
to Mafs, and not allowed a Sight of, or any Con
verfation with my fellow Prifoners; the old
Indian Man that I was ordered to work with,
had a Wife, and fome Children, he took me into
the Woods with him, and made Signs that I
muft chop, giving me an Ax, the Indian foon
faw that I could handle the Ax : Here I tried to
reconcile myfelf to this Employ, that they might
have no Occafion againft me, except concerning
the Law of my God; the old Man began to
appear kind, and his Wife gave me Milk and
Bread when we came Home, and when fhe got
Fifh, gave me the Gills to eat, out of real Kind-
nefs ; but perceiving I did not like them, gave
me my own choice, and behaved lovingly!
Here I faw that God could make Friends of

d When I was at Of wegotchy, the Indians took Notice, that I
frequently retired alone, and fuppofing I had fome bad Defign,
threatened if I did not defift, they would Tomahawk me ; but
my fellow Prifoner, who underftood their Language, told them
it would be a pity to hurt me on that Account, for I only went
into a private Place to pray, which was true; the Indians
replied, if f o, it was good ; but being yet f ufpicious, took Pains,
by watching to find out how the Cafe was, and when they
fatisfied themfelves, feemed pleafed! and did not offer to
interrupt me any more, which was a great Mercy; as the
Contrary would have in fome Degree, marred my Converfe
with God.

EA STB URN NARR A TI VE 49
cruel Enemies, as he once turned the Heart of
angry Efau into Love and Tendernefs; when
we had finifhed our Fence, which had employed
us about a Week, I fhewed the old Squaw my
Shirt (having worn it from the Time I was firft
taken Prifoner, which was about feven Weeks)
all in Rags, Dirt, and Lice ; fhe faid it was not
good, and brought me a new One, with ruffled
Sleeves (faying that is good) which I thankfully
accepted. The next Day they carried me back to
the Indian Town, and admitted me to converfe
with my fellow Prifoners, who told me we were
all to be fent to Montreal, which accordingly
came to pafs.
Montreal, at our Arrival here, we had our
Lodging firft in the Jefuit's Convent, where I
faw a great Number of Priefts, and People that
came to Confeffion; after fome flay, we were
ordered to attend, with the Indians, at a Grand
Council, held before the head General Vau-
driel ; * we Prifoners fat in our Rank (furrounded
with our Fathers and Brethren) but were afked
no Queftions: the General had a Number of
Officers to attend him in Council, where a noted
Prieft, called Picket, t fat at his Right-Hand,
* Pierre Francois de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavag-
nal. He was governor of Canada from the summer of 1755
till the French lost the country, 1759.
t Abbe Frangois Piquet. He was one of the most patriotic
and zealous priests in French America. Though best known
as the founder of Oswegatchie, his work at the Lake of the

50 EA STB URN NA RRA TI VE
who underftands the Indian Tongue well, and
does more Hurt to the Englifh, than any other
of his Order in Canada (his Dwelling is at
Ofwegotchy). Here I was informed that fome
Meafures were concerted to deftroy Ofwego,
which they had been long preparing to execute ;
we in our Journey met many Battoes going up
Stream, with Provifion and Men for an Attack
on our Frontiers, which confirmed the Report:
The Council adjourned to another Day, and then
broke up. My Indian Father and Mother took
me with them to feveral of their old Acquain
tance, who were French, to fhew them their
lately adopted Son; thefe Perfons had been
concerned with my Father and other Indians,
in deftroying many Englifh Families in their
younger Days; and (as one Handing by who
underftood their Language, faid,) were boafting
of their former Murders ! After fome Days the
Council was again called, before which, feveral
of the Oneida Chiefs appeared, and offered fome
Complaint againft the French's attacking our
Carrying- Place, it being their Land; but the
Two Mountains was notable in the annals of the Church. He
was stationed at Fort Frontenac, at one time. When Mont
calm captured Oswego, Piquet was present, and erected a
huge cross to commemorate the French victory. He accom
panied a number of raiding parties that invaded the British
settlements. His energy was untiring. Though called vain
and boastful, it is certain that he was ever ready to back his
words with deeds.

EASTBURN NARRA TIVE 51
General laboured to make them eafy, and gave
them fundry Prefents of Value, which they ac
cepted (e) : After which, I knowing thefe Indians
were acquainted with Captain Williams, at the
Carrying-Place, fent a Letter by them, to let
my Family and Friends know I was yet alive,
and longed for Redemption ; but it never came
to Hand. The Treaty being ended, the General
fent about ten Gallons of red Wine to the
Indians, which they divided among us; after
e The French in Canada, well knowing the great Importance
of having the Indians in their Intereft, to promote their ambi
tious and unjuft Defigns, ufe a variety of Methods with them,
among which, the following one is excellent in itf elf , and well
worthy of Imitation, viz. They are exceeding careful to pre
vent fpirituous Liquors being fold to the Indians, and if any
of the Inhabitants are proved guilty of it, their temporal
Intereft is quite broke, and corporal Punifhment inflidted on
them ; unlefs the General, on fome particular Occafion, orders
his Commiffioners to deliver fome to them. I may add, that
knowing their Number is fmall, compared with the Britifh
Inhabitants on this Continent, and muft quickly fall into their
Hands, in cafe we united, and entered boldly into the Heart of
their Country with a f ufficient Force ; for that very Reafon,
they choofe to keep us continually on the Defencive, by fend
ing when Occafion requires, large Bodies of Regulars, together
with great Numbers of Indians, upon long and tedious
Marches, that we may not come near their Borders; and
efpecially by employing the Latter, conftantly to wafte and
ravage our Frontiers, by which we are murdered by Inches, .
and beat without a Battle ! By what I could learn when I was
among them, they do not fear our Numbers, becaufe of our ,
unhappy Divifions, which they deride, and from them, ftrongly
expedt to conquer us entirely ! which may a gracious God, in
Mercy, prevent!

52 EA STB URN NA RRA TI VE
came the Prefents, confifting of Coats, Blankets,
Shirts, Skins (to make Indian Shoes) Cloth (to
make Stockings) Powder, Lead, Shot, and to
each a Bag of Paint, for their own Ufe, &c.
After we Prifoners had our Share, my Mother
came to me with an Interpreter, and told me I
might flay in the Town, at a Place fhe had
found for me, if I pleafed (this was doubtlefs
the Confequence of my declining to obey her
Orders, in fome Inftances that affected my
Confcience) this Propofal I aimoft agreed to;
but one of my fellow Prifoners, with whom I
had before fome Difcourfe, about making our
Efcape from the Indian Town, oppofed the
Motion, and faid, " pray do not flay, for if you
do, we fhall not be able to form a Plan for our
Deliverance ; " on which I told her I chof e to
go Home with her, and foon fet off by Land in
our Way thither, to Lafcheen,* diftant from
* La Chine was the name given by envious competitors to
the frontier trading-post, established by La Salle, soon after
his arrival (1666) in New France. It stood at the head of the
rapids above and nine miles from Montreal. It was the most
dangerous, and probably it was then the most profitable post
in America. Having learned from Seneca Indians that a river
heading in their country flowed to a great salt sea, far away
to the south, La Salle supposed it emptied into the South Sea,
and that he might, by following that route, reach China.
With unsurpassed courage and enterprise he mortgaged his
trading-post, though it was yielding him large profits, to raise
funds for the exploration of this river. He succeeded in fol
lowing it as far as the falls of the Ohio (Louisville, Kentucky),
and then, because his men deserted him, he was obliged to

EASTBURN NARR A TIVE 53
Montreal about 9 Miles, where we left our
Cannoes, and then proceeded, without Delay, on
our Journey; in which I faw, to my Sorrow,
great Numbers of Soldiers, and much Provi-
fions, in Motion towards Lake Ontario.
After a painful and diftreffing Journey, we
arrived at Ofwegotchy, where we likewife faw
many Battoes, with Provifion and Soldiers,
daily paffing by in their Way to Frontenac,*
which greatly diftreffed me for Ofwego ! Hence
I refolved, if poffible, to give our People Notice
of their Danger: To this End, I told two of
my fellow Prifoners, that it was not a Time to
fleep, and afked if they would go with me, to
this they heartily agreed ; but we had no Provi
fion, were clofely eyed by the Enemy, and
could not lay up a Stock out of our Allowance :
However, at this Time, Mr. Picket (before men
tioned) had concluded to dig a large Trench
round the Town ; I therefore went to a Negro,
return, ruined, to Montreal. He had gone to find China; he
returned to find the mortgage on his post at the rapids fore
closed. His old rivals, to deride him, began to call his lost
post China — La Chine — and the name remains to this day,
perpetuating the story of La Salle's first expedition into the
wilds of America, and the ill nature of his competitors.
* Frontenac was the name (called also Cataraqui) of the
fort, trading-post, and settlement established (1673) by La
Salle and Count de Frontenac, where Kingston, Ontario, now
stands. It was the first of the chain of forts intended to
extend from Montreal to New Orleans that La Salle planned
to secure the interior of the continent to the French crown.

54 EASTBURN NARRA TIVE
the principal Manager of this Work (who could
fpeak Englifh, French, and Indian, well) and
afked him, if he could get Employ for two
others, and myfelf, which he foon did ; for which
we were to have Meat and Wages. Here we
had a Profpect of procuring Provifion for our
Flight ; this, I in fome Time effected for myfelf,
and then afked my Brethren if they were ready,
who replied they were not yet, but faid, Ann
Bowman, our fellow Prifoner, had brought 130
Dollars from Bull's Fort, and would give them
all they had Need of ; I told them it was not f af e
to difclofe fuch a Secret to her, but they blamed
me for my Fears, and applied to her for Provi
fion, letting her know our Intention, who imme
diately informed the Prieft of it ; on which we
were apprehended, the Indians apprifed of our
Defign, and a Court called ; by Order of which,
four of us were confined under a ftrong Guard,
in a Room within the Fort, for feveral Days.
From hence, another and myfelf were fent to
Cohnewago, under a ftrong Guard of 60 Indians,
to prevent my ploting any more againft the
French, and banifh all Hope of my Efcape!
However, when we arrived at this Place, it
pleafed that gracious God, who has the Hearts
of all Creatures in his Hand, to incline the Cap
tain of the Guard, to fhew me great Kindnefs,
in giving me Liberty to walk or work where I
pleafed, within any fmall Diftance; on which

EASTS URN NARRA TIVE 55
I went to work with a French Smith, for fix
Livers and five Soufe per Week ; which the Cap
tain let me have to myfelf, and farther favoured
me with the Priviledge of Lodging at his Mother's
Houfe, an Englifh Woman (named Mary Har
ris,* taken Captive when a Child, from Dear-
field, in New- England) who told me fhe was my
Grand -mother, and was kind; but the Wages
being fmall, and not fufficient to procure fuch
Cloathing as I was in Want of, I proceeded no
farther with the French Smith, but went to my
Uncle Peter, and told him I wanted Cloaths, and
that it would be better to let me go to Montreal,
and work there, where I could Cloath myfelf
better, than by flaying with him, and that with
out any Charge to him, who after fome Reafoning
confented. Set off on my Journey to Montreal, and on
my entring the City met an Englifh Smith,
who took me to work with him; after fome
Time, we fettled to work in a Shop, oppofite to
the General's Door, where we had the Oppor
tunity of feeing a great Part of the Forces of
Canada (both Soldiers and Indians) who were
commonly brought there, before their going
out to War; and likewife all Prifoners, by which
* Mary Harris was one of a considerable number of captured
New England children who learned to prefer the Indian way
of living to that of civilized people. According to Parkman,
a tributary of the Muskingum River, in Ohio, was named
White Woman's Creek, in her honor.

56 EASTS URN NARRA TIVE
Means we got Intelligence how our People were
preparing for Defence ; but no good News from
Of wego, which made me fear, knowing that great
Numbers of French were gone againft it, and
hearing of but few to defend it. Prayers were
put up in all the Churches of Canada, and great
Proceffions made, in order to procure Succefs
to their Arms, againft poor Of wego; but our
People knew little of their Danger, till it was
too late : Certainly if more frequent and earneft
Application (both in private and public) was
made to the God of Battle, we might with
greater Probability, expect Succefs would crown
our military Attempts! To my Surprize, the
difmal News came, that the French had taken
one of the Of wego Forts; in a few Hours,
in Confirmation of this, I faw the Englifh
Standards (the melancholly Trophy of Victory)
and the French rejoicing at our downfal, and
mocking us poor Prifoners, in our Exile and
Extremity, which was no great Argument either
of Humanity, or true Greatnefs of Mind ; great
Joy appeared in all their Faces, which they
expreffed by loud Shouts, firing of Cannon, and
returning Thanks in their Churches; but our
Faces were covered with Shame, and our Hearts
filled with Grief! - - Soon after, I faw feveral
of the Officers brought in Prifoners, in fmall
Parties, and the Soldiers in the fame Manner, and
confined within the Walls, in a ftarving Condi-

EA STB URN NA RRA TI VE 57
tion, in order to make them Work, which fome
complied with, but others bravely refufed ; and
laft of all came the Tradefmen, among whom
was my Son, who looking round faw his Father,
who he thought had long been dead ; this joyful
Sight fo affected him, that he wept! — nor could
I, in feeing my Son, remain unconcerned! —
no ; the Tendernefs of a Father's Bowels, upon fo
extraordinary an Occafion, I am not able to
exprefs, and therefore muft cover it with a Vail
of Silence ! — But he, with all my Philadelphia
Friends, being guarded by Soldiers, with fixed
Bayonets, we could not come near each other,
they were fent to the common Pound; but I
haftened to the Interpreter, to try if I could get
my Child at Liberty, which was foon effected !
When we had the Happinefs of an Interview,
he gave me fome Information of the State of
our Family, and told me, as foon as the News
were fent Home, that I was killed, or taken, his
Mother was not allowed any more Support from
my Wages, which grieved me much, and added
to my other Afflictions (f) !
'In the mean Time, it gave me fome Pleafure, in this Situa
tion, to fee an Expreffion of equal Duty and Prudence in my
Sons Conduct, who, though young in Years (about 17) and in
fuch a confufed State of Things, had taken care to bring, with
much Labour and Fatigue, a large Bundle of considerable
Value to me, it being Cloathing, &c. which I was in great Need
of; he likewife faved a Quantity of Wampum, which we
brought from New- York, and afterwards fold here, for 150
Livers. He traveled with me Part of the Journey towards

58 EASTBURN NARRA TIVE
When the People taken at Ofwego, were fet-
ting out on their Way to Quebec, I made
Application for Liberty to go with them ; but
the Interpreter replied, that I was an Indian
Prifoner, and the General would not fuffer it, till
the Indians were fatisfied; and as they lived
Two Hundred Miles from Montreal, it could not
be done at that Time : Finding that all Argu
ments, farther on that Head, would not avail,
becaufe I was not included in the Capitulation ;
I told the Interpreter, my Son muft go and
leave me ! in order to be ready at Quebec to go
Home, when the Ofwego People went, which
probably would be foon; he replied, " It would
Ofwego, but not being f o far on his Way, as I was when taken,
he did not then fall into the Enemy's Hands, but continued
free till Ofwego was taken, and was then remarkably deliv
ered from the Hands of the Indians, in the following Manner,
15 young Lads were drafted out to be delivered to them (which
from their known Cuftom, it is reafonable to conclude, was to
fill up the Number they had loft in the Battle *) among which
he was one : This barbarous Defign, which is contrary to the
Laws of War, among all civilized Nations, the French artfully
concealed, under the Pretext of fending them to work in the
Battoes; but my Child taking Notice, that all that were
chofen were fmall Lads, doubted their real Intention was bad,
*In Delafield's biography of Francis Lewis (one of the
prisoners captured at Oswego) is this paragraph (p. 20):
" Montcalm allowed his Indian allies to select thirty prisoners
as their share of the booty, and Lewis was one of the number.
The Indians retreated northward. Toward the close of each
day when they found . . a pleasant spot which invited
them to rest and feast, they lit their fires and celebrated their
victory by the sacrifice of a captive."

EA STS URN NARRA TIVE 59
be better to keep him with me, for he might be
a Mean to get me clear much fooner."
The Officers belonging to Ofwego, would
gladly have had me with them, but found it
impracticable; this is an Inftance of Kindnefs
and Condefcenfion, for which I am obliged!
Captain Bradley, gave me a good Coat, Veft,
and Shirt ; and a young Gentleman, who for
merly lived in Philadelphia, gave four Piftoles
(his Name is James Stone, he was Doctor at
Ofwego). Thefe generous Expreffions of Kind
nefs and Humanity, I am under great Obliga
tions to remember with affectionate Gratitude,
and if ever it be in the Compafs of my Power,
and therefore flipt out of his Rank and concealed himf elf , by
which Means, under God, he was preferved from a State of
perpetual Captivity ; his Place being filled up in his Abf ence,
the other unhappy Youths were delivered up a Sacrifice to the
Indian Enemy, to be inftrudted in Popifh Principles, and em
ployed in Murdering their Countrymen; yea, perhaps, their
Fathers and Brethren, O horrible! O lamentable! How can
the French be guilty in cold Blood, of fuch prodigious In
iquity? Befides their infatiable Thirft of Empire, Doubtlefs
the Pardons they get from their Pope, and their Priefts, em
bolden them, which brings to my Mind, what I faw when
among them: On a Sabbaoth Day, perceiving a great Con-
courfe of People at a Chapel, built on the Commons, at fome
Diftance from the City, I went to fee what was the Occafion,
and found a kind of a Fair, at which were fold Cakes, Wine,
Brandy, &c. I likewife faw many Carts and Chafes attend
ing, the Chapel Doors in the mean Time open, Numbers of
People going in and out, and a Board hanging over the Door,
on which was written, in large Letters, INDULGENCE
PLENARY, or FULL PARDON.

60 EA STB URN NA RRA TI VE
to requite : This Money, together with what my
Son brought, I was in Hopes would go far towards
procuring my Releafe, from my Indian Mafters ;
but feeing a Number of Prifoners in fore Diftrefs,
among which were, the Captains Grant and
Shepherd,* and about Seven more in Company,
I thought it my Duty to relieve them, and com
mit my Releafe to the Difpofal of Providence !
Nor was this f uffered to turn to my Difadvantage
in the Iffue, for my Deliverance was brought
about in due Time, in another, and unexpected
Way. This Company informed me of their
Intention to Efcape, accordingly I gave them
all the Help in my Power, faw them clear of
the Town, on a Saturday Evening, before the
Centries were fet at the Gates, and advifed them
not to part from each other, and delivered to
Captain Shepherd two Pocket Compaffes; but
they contrary to this Counfel parted, and faw
each other no more : By their f eparating, Cap
tain Grant, and Serjeant Newel, were deprived
of the Benefit of a Compafs ; the other Part got
fafe to Fort William Henry, as I was informed
by Serjeant Henry, who was brought in Prif
oner, being taken in a Battle, when gallant, inde
fatigable Captain Rogers, made a brave Stand,
* Shepard was picked up by a scouting party that was under
the active Major Robert Rogers. They had gone down Lake
George on skates to look after French stragglers and examine
the French posts.

EA STB URN Na RRA TI VE 61
againft more than twice his Number! But I
have not heard any Account of Captain Grant!
Was enabled, through much Mercy, to continue
communicating fome Relief to other Prifoners,
out of the Wages I received for my Labour,
which was 40 Livers per Month !
In the latter Part of the Winter, Coal and Iron
were fo fcarce, that I was hard fet to get any
more Work ; I then offered to work for my Diet
and Lodging, rather than be thruft into a ftink-
ing Dungeon, or fent among the Indians : The
Interpreter took fome Pains (which I thankfully
acknowledge) but without Succefs; however,
as I offered to work without Wages, a French
man took me and my Son in, upon thefe Terms,
till a better Birth pref en ted ; here we ftaid one
Week, but heard of no other Place, then he
offered me and my Son, 30 Livers per Month,
to ftrike and blow the Bellows, which I did for
about two Months, and then was difcharged,
and traveled about from Place to Place, having
no fixed Abode, and was obliged to lay out the
fmall Remains of my Cafh, in buying a little
Victuals, and took a Hay-Loft for my Lodging :
I then made my Cafe known to the kind Inter
preter, and requefted him to confider of fome
Means for my Relief, who replied he would;
in the mean Time, as I was taking a walk in
the City, I met an Indian Prifoner, that be
longed to the Town where my Father lived,

62 EA STS URN NA RRA TI VE
who reported, that a great Part of the Indians
there, were juft come, with a Refolution to
carry me back with them ; and knowing him to
be a very honeft Fellow, I believed the Truth of
it, and fled from the Town to be concealed from
the Indians; in the mean while, Schemes were
formed for an Efcape, and well profecuted : The
Iffue of which was fortunate. General Vaudriel,
gave me and my Son, Liberty (under his Hand)
to go to Quebec, and work there at our Pleafure,
without Confinement, as Prifoners of War; by
which Means, I was freed from paying a Ranfom.
The Commiffary, Monfieur Partwe, being
about to fet off for Quebec, my Son informed
me that I muft come to Town in the Evening, a
Paffage being provided for us ; I waited till near
Dark, and then entered the Town, with great
Care, to efcape the Indians, who kept watch for
me (and had done f o for fome Time) which made
it very difficult and dangerous to move ; however,
as they had no Knowledge of my Son, he could
watch their Motions, without their Sufpicion
(the Providence of God is a great Deep, this
Help was provided for my Extremity, not only
beyond my Expectation, but contrary to my
Defign.) In the Morning, upon feeing an Indian
fet to watch for me, over againft the Houfe I
was in, I quickly made my Efcape, through the
back Part of the Houfe, over fome high Pickets,
and out of the City, to the River Side, and fled !

EASTS URN NA RRA TI VE

A Friend knowing my Scheme for Deliverance,
kindly affifted me to conceal myfelf : The Com
miffary had by this Time got ready for his
Voyage, of which my Son giving me Notice, I
immediately, with no lingering Motion, repaired
to the Boat, was received on board, fet off quite
undifcovered, and faw the Indians no more!
A very narrow and furprizing Efcape, from a
violent Death ! (For they had determined to kill
me, in cafe I ever attempted to leave them)
which lays me under the ftrongeft Obligations,
to improve a Life refcued from the Jaws of fo
many Deaths, to the Honour of my gracious
Benefactor! — But to return, the Commiffary,
upon feeing the Difmiffion I had from the Gen
eral, treated us courteoufly ! (g)
Arrived at Quebec, May ift, The honorable
Colonel Peter Schuyler* hearing of my coming
e Saw many Houfes and Villages in our Paf s along the River
St. Lawrence towards the Metropolis; and here it may be
with Juftice obferved, that the Inhabitants of Canada in gen
eral, are principally (if not wholly) fettled upon Rivers, by
reafon that their back Lands being flat and fwampy, are
therefore unfit to bear Grain : Their Wheat is f own in the
Spring of the Year, becaufe the Winter is long, and would
drown it; they feem to have no good Notion of making
Meadow (fo far as I had an Opportunity of obferving) their
horned Cattle are few and poor, their Living in general mean,
they eat but little Flefh, neverthelef s they are ftrong and hardy.
* Colonel Peter Schuyler. He was the son of Arent Schuy
ler, and both were notable men in the British colonies. The
colonel was in command of a New Jersey regiment at Oswego
when the French captured the place. " While a prisoner in

64 EASTS URN NA RRA TI VE
there, kindly fent for me, and after enquiries
about my Welfare, &c. generoufly told me I
fhould be fupplied, and need not trouble myfelf
for Support ! This public f pirited Gentleman,
who is indeed an Honour to his Country, did
in like Manner, nobly relieve many other poor
Prifoners at Quebec ! — Here I had full Liberty
to walk where I pleafed, and view the City,
which is well fituated for Strength, but far from
being impregnable.
Here, I hope, it will not be judged improper,
to give a fhort Hint of the French Governor's
Conduct; even in Time of Peace, he gives the
Indians great Encouragement to Murder and
Captivate the poor Inhabitants on our Frontiers ;
an honeft, good Man, named William Rofs, was
taken Prifoner twice in the Time of Peace;
when he was firft taken, he learned a little of
the French Tongue, was after fome Time
redeemed, and got to his Place of Abode : Yet
fome Years after, he, with two Sons, was again
taken, and brought to Quebec; the Governor
feeing the poor Man was Lame, and one of his
Legs fmaller than the other, reproved the In-
Canada he kept open house for the relief of his fellow suffer
ers, and gave large sums to the Indians for the redemption of
captives ; many of whom he afterwards, at his own expense,
maintained while there, and provided for their return, trusting
to their abilities and honor for repayment ; and lost consider
able that way, but seemed to think it money well bestowed."
He lived at No. i Broadway, New York City, at one time.

EA STB URN NARRA TIVE 65
dians for not killing him, af king, ' ' what they
brought a lame Man there for, who could do
nothing but eat; you fhould, faid he, have
brought his Scalp ! ' ' However, another of his
Countrymen; more merciful than his Excel
lency, knowing the poor Prifoner to be a quiet,
hard-working Man, redeemed him from the
Indians ; and two other Frenchmen bought his
two Sons: Here they had been Slaves more
than three Years, when I firft arrived at Que
bec ; this Account I had from Mr. Rof s himfelf ,
who farther added, that the Governor gave the
Indians Prefents, to encourage them to proceed,
in that kind of Work, which is a Scandal to any
civilized Nation, and what many Pagans would
abhor! Here alfo, I faw one Mr. Johnfon, who
was taken in a Time of Peace, with his Wife, and
three fmall Children (his Wife was big with Child
of a Fourth, and delivered on the Road to Canada,
which fhe called Captive * ) all which, had been
Prifoners between three and four Years, feveral
young Men, and his Wife's Sifter, were likewife
taken Captive with them, and made Slaves !
* Parkman refers to the daughter of John Smead and wife,
as a child that was named " Captivity " under similar circum
stances. The Smeads were captured when Fort Massachusetts
was destroyed (1746). The child was born while they traveled
through the woods. The Indians made a litter of poles and
deerskins, placed mother and child on it, covered them with
a bearskin, and then carried them on their way to the settle
ment in Canada.

66 EASTS URN NARRA TIVE
Our Cartel being ready, I obtained Liberty to
go to England in her; we fet Sail the 23d of
July, 1757, in the Morning, and difcharged our
Pilot about 4 o'Clock in the Afternoon; after
which, we neither caft Anchor or Lead, till we
got clear of the great River St. Lawrence, from
which, I conclude, the Navigation is much fafer
than the French have reported; in 28 Days we
arrived at Plymouth, which occaGoned great
Joy, for we were ragged, lowfy, fick, and in a
Manner, ftarved; and many of the Prifoners,
who in all were about 300 in Number, were fick
of the Small-Pox: My Son and Self, having
each a Blanket Coat (which we bought in Canada
to keep us warm) and now expecting Relief,
gave them to two poor fick Men, aimoft naked !
But as we were not allowed to go on Shore, but
removed to a King's Ship, and fent to Portf-
mouth, where we were ftill confined on board,
near two Weeks, and then removed to the Mer
maid,* to be fent to Bofton; we now repented
our well ment, though rafh Charity, in giving
* According to Allen's Battles of the British Navy the
"Mermaid" was a 28-gun frigate. During our war of the
Revolution the " Mermaid " fell in with the fleet under Count
D'Estaing, as it was sailing up the American coast to attack
General Howe, who was then (1778) in Philadelphia. The
fleet went in chase of the " Mermaid," and drove her ashore
on Cape Henlopen, but were thereby so much delayed in what
was already an overlong passage, that Howe, and such few
ships as were at Philadelphia, got clear of the Delaware.

EASTS URN NARRA TIVE 67

our Coats away, as we were not to get any more,
all Application to the Captain for any Kind of
Covering being in vain ; our Joy was turned into
Sorrow, at the Profpect of coming on a cold
Coaft, in the Beginning of Winter, aimoft naked,
which was not a little increafed, by a near View
of our Mother Country, the Soil and Comforts of
which, we were not fuffered to touch or tafte (h).
September the 6th, Set Sail for Bofton, with a
Fleet in Convoy, at which we arrived on the
Seventh of November, in the Evening; it being
Dark, and we Strangers, and poor, it was difficult
to get a Lodging (I had no Shoes, and but Pieces
b On board the Mermaid Man of War, being in a diftreffed
Condition, and hearing little from the Mouths of many of my
Countrymen, but Oaths and Curfes (which much increafed my
Affliction) and finding it difficult to get a retired Place, I crept
down into the Hold among the Water Casks, to cry to God;
here the Lord was gracioufly pleafed to meet with me, and
give me a Senfe of his fatherly Love and Care; here he
enabled me (bleffed be his Name for ever) to look back and
view how he had led me, and guarded me with a watchful Eye
and ftrong Arm, and what Pains he had taken to wean me
from an over-love of time Things, and make me content that
he fhould choofe for me: Here I was enabled to fee his
great Goodnefs in all my Difappointments, and that Afflidtions
were not Evidences of God's Wrath, but the Contrary, to all
that honeftly Endeavour to f eek him with Faith and Love ; here
I could fay, God is worthy to be ferved, loved, and obeyed,
though it be attended with many Mif eries in this World !
What I have here mentioned, fo far as I know my heart, is
neither to exalt myfelf, or offend any one upon Earth, but to
glorify God, for his Goodnefs and Faithfulnefs to the Meaneft
of his Servants, and to encourage others to truft in him !

68 EA STB URN NARRA TIVE
of Stockings, and the Weather in the mean
Time very Cold) we were indeed directed to
a Tavern, but found cold Entertainment there,
the Mafter of the Houfe feeing a ragged and
lowfy Company, turned us out to Wander in the
Dark; he was fufpicious of us, and feared we
came from Halifax, where the Small-Pox then
was, and told us, he was ordered not to receive
fuch as came from thence: We foon met a
young Man, who faid he could find a Lodging
for us, but ftill detained us by afking many
Queftions; on which I told him we were in no
Condition to Anfwer, till we came to a proper
Place, which he quickly found, where we were
ufed well; but as we were lowfy, could not
expect Beds. The next Morning, we made
Application for Cloathing; Mr. Erwing, Son-in-
Law to the late General Shirley,* gave us Relief,
* William Shirley was governor of Massachusetts when this
war began. After the conference with Braddock in Virginia
Shirley was placed in command of the expedition that was to
reduce Niagara. At Braddock's death he became commander-
ir.-chief of the British forces in America, and he held that
position at the time Eastburn was captured. It was by his
orders that Fort Bull was filled with supplies, though but
poorly garrisoned to resist a French invasion. He was an
earnest, energetic, and capable civil officer, but was most un
fortunate in this war, for his military enterprises failed, and
he lost two sons in the army. Franklin in his autobiography
says of him: "Tho' Shirley was not a bred soldier, he was
sensible and sagacious in himself, and attentive to good advice
from others, capable of forming judicious plans, and quick
and active in carrying them into execution."

EASTS URN NARRA TI VE 69
not only in refpect of Apparel, but alfo Three
Dollars per Man, to bear our Charges to New
port : When I put on frefh Cloaths, I was f eized
with a cold Fit, which was followed by a high
Fever, and in that Condition obliged to Travel
on Foot, as far as Providence, in our Way to
Rhode-Ifland (our Money not being fufficient to
hire any Carriage, and find us what was needful
for Support:) In this Journey, I was exceed
ingly diftreffed! Our Comforts in this Life,
are often allaved with Miferies, which are
doubtlefs great Mercies when f uitably improved ;
at Newport, met with Captain Gibbs, and agreed
with him for our Paffage to New- York, where
we arrived, November 21ft, met with many
Friends, who exprerled much Satisfaction at
our Return, and treated us kindly, particularly
Meffrs. Livingflon, and Waldron.
November 26th, 1757. Arrived at Philadel
phia, to the great Joy of all my Friends, and
particularly of my poor afflicted Wife and
Family, who thought they fhould never fee me
again, till we met beyond the Grave; being
returned, fick and weak in Body, and empty-
handed, not having any Thing for my Family's
and my own Support, feveral humane and gen
erous Perfons, of different Denominations, in
this City (without any Application of mine,
directly or indirectly) have freely given feaf on-
able Relief; for which, may God grant them

70 EASTB URN NARRA TIVE
Bleffings in this World, and in the World to
come everlafting Life, for Chrift's fake!
Now, God, in His great Mercy, hath granted
me a temporal Salvation, and what is a Thou
fand Times better, he hath given me with it, a
Soul-fatisfying Evidence of an eternal in the
World to come !
And now, what fhall I render to the Lord for
all his Benefits, alas I am nonpluft! O that
Saints and Angels might praife thee, for I am
not worthy to take thy Name into my Mouth
any more ! Yet notwithftanding, thou art pleafed
to accept poor Endeavours, becaufe Jejus Chrijl
has opened the Door, whereby we may come
boldly to the Throne of thy Grace, praifed be
the Lord God Jehovah, by Men and Angels,
throughout all Eternity !
But to haften to the Conclufion, fuffer me
with Humility and Sorrow to obferve, that our
Enemies feem to make a better Ufe of a bad
Religion, than we of a good One ; they rife up
long before Day in Winter, and go through the
Snow in the coldeft Seafons, to perform their
Devotions in the Churches ; which when over,
they return to be ready for their Work as foon
as Day-Light appears : The Indians are as zeal
ous in Religion, as the French, they oblige
their Children to pray Morning and Evening,
particularly at Conafadauga; are punctual in
performing their ftated Adts of Devotion them-

EASTB URN NARRA TI VE 71
felves, are ftill and peaceable in their own
Families, and among each other as Neighbours !
When I compared our Manner of Living with
theirs, it made me fear that the righteous and
jealous God (who is wont to make Judgment
begin at his own Houfe firft) was about to deli
ver us into their Hands, to be feverely punifhed
for our Departure from him ; how long has he
waited for our Return, O that we may there
fore turn to him, before his Anger break out
into a Flame, and there be no Remedy !
Our Cafe appears to me indeed very gloomy !
notwithftanding our Enemies are incoufiderable
in Number, compared with us; yet they are
united as one Man, while we may be juftly
compared to a Houfe divided againft itfelf, and
therefore cannot ftand long, in our prefent
Situation. May Almighty God, gracioufiy incline us to
look to him for DELIVERANCE, to repent of
our Sins, reform our Lives, and unite in the vig
orous and manly Ufe of all proper Means to this
End. Amen. FINIS.

INDEX

Acadia, British success in, 14.
Alexandria. Va., intercolonial
conference at, 13.
Alleghany River. 11.
Braddock, Gen. Edward, work
of and defeat, 13.
Braddock, Pa., site of British
defeat, 14.
Bradley, Capt., kind to East-
burn, 59.
"Britain, Old," eaten by In
dians, 11.
Bull, Ft., attacked by French,
18-19; described, 32.
Canasadauga, described, 42, 45.
Captivity, name given to child
born a prisoner on the trail,
65.
Cataraqui (Frontenac), Ft., ac
count of, 53.
Celoron de Bienville, leads ex
pedition to Ohio, 11.
Contrecceur, Capt., at forks of
the Ohio, 12.
Coquard, Rev., describes In
dian warfare, 15.
Crown Point to be attacked.
13. 17-

Dead Shout, an Indian signal,
36.
Detroit, a French post, 11.
Dieskau, Baron, beaten at Lake
George, 14.
Dinwiddie, Gov., opinion of
traders, 10; opposes French
invasion, 12; defends Vir
ginia, 12, 13; evil he foresaw,
14-
Dumas, Capt., describes war,
14-15.
Duquesne, Ft., French post at
forks of the Ohio, 13.
Duquesne, Gov., orders to, 14.
Eastburn, Robert, birth, 7;
converted, 7; as a trader, 9;
to trade with Indians at Os
wego, 15-16; stories of fight
in which captured, 16; fol
lows scouting party, 29 ; cap
tured and robbed, 30; pre
vents attack on Ft. Wil
liams, 31; at capture of Ft.
Bull, 32 ; sufferings on way to
Canada, 33 et seq.; reaches
Oswegotchie, 38; down the
St. Lawrence, 39; ordered to

74

INDEX

dance the prisoners' song
40; leaves the St. Lawrence,
41; in a French settlement
42 ; at Canasadauga, 43 ; runs
the gauntlet, 44; adopted into
Indian family and ordered
to Oswegotchie, 45; an In
dian feast that was not rel
ished, 46; refuses to go tc
mass, 47 ; at work in woods
48; sent to Montreal, 49,
hears Oswego is to be at
tacked, 50; describes French
methods with Indians, 51 ; on
return to Oswegotchie thinks
to escape, 52; at work forti
fying Oswegotchie, plot to
escape fails, sent to Cohne-
wago, 54; at work at trade,
meets Mary Harris, starts
for Montreal, 55; when Os
wego was captured, 56;
meets his son among the
prisoners, 57; describes son's
adventures as a prisoner, 58 ;
refused permission to go to
Quebec, 58; helps prisoners
to escape, 60 ; works with son
for a French smith, 61 ; per
mitted to go with son to Que
bec, escapes from the In
dians, 62-63; describes set
tlements on way to Quebec,
63; aided by Col. Peter
Schuyler, 63-64; sent in car
tel to England, 66 ; returns to
Boston in frigate ' 'Mermaid, ' '
66-67; distressful condition,

67-68; relieved by Erwing,
son-in-law of Gov. Shirley,
68-69; at New York, meets
prominent people, 69; at
home, 6g et seq.
Erie, Pa., on French route
to the Ohio, 11.
Erwing, Mr., son-in-law of
Gov. Shirley, kind to East-
burn, 68.
Frontenac (Cataraqui), Ft., ac
count of, 53.
Grant, Captain, a prisoner,
escapes from French, 62.
Hamilton, Gov., opinion of
traders, 10.
Harris, Mary, account of, 55.
Johnson, Gen. Wm., checks
French, 14; sends force in
chase of Lery, 33.
Johnson, Mr., a prisoner well
treated by Indians, 65.
Jumonville, Ensign, attacked
by Washington, 12.
La Chine, story of, 52.
Langlade, Chas., a French
trader, attacks Pickawil
lany, 9, 11.
La Salle, first exploration
mentioned, 54.
Le Bceuf, French post, 11.
Legardeur de St. Pierre, reply
to Washington, 12.
L6ry, Joseph Chaussegros de,
commands expedition to head
of Mohawk Valley, 17-19;
record, 32.

INDEX

75

Lewis, Francis, account of,
when taken prisoner at Os
wego, 58.
Mermaid, British frigate, ac
count of, 66.
Mohawk River, in route to Os
wego, 29.
Mohawk- Wood Creek carrying-
place, 7, 17, 18.
Montresor, James, an engineer,
29.
Mount Calvary, mission de
scribed, 45.
Necessity, Fort, captured by
French, 13.
Newel, Serjeant, a prisoner
among French, 60.
Niagara, to be attacked, 13, 17,
Ogdensburg, on site of Os
wegotchie, 18.
Oswego, N.Y., frontier trading-
post, 8, 29 ; origin, 33 ; threat
ened, 50, 53; captured, 56.
Oswegotchie (Ogdensburg),
site of French mission, 18;
described, 38.
Pickawillany, an Indian set
tlement, 9, 11.
Piquet, Abbe, work as mis
sionary, 45; record, 49-50; at
Oswegotchie, 53.
Pittsburg, site of fort, 12.
Porcupine, as food, and habitSi
35-
Prisoners' song, Eastburn re
fuses to dance, 40, 44.

Quebec, mentioned, 32; desti
nation of prisoners taken at
Oswego, 58; Eastburn's life
at, 63 et seq.
Raymond, commandant on
Maumee, letter on English
Indian trade, n.
Rogers. Maj. Robert, scouting
down Lake George, 60.
Rome, N. Y., at site of trail
where Eastburn was captured,
7-
St. Lawrence River, de
scribed, 41.
Schuyler, Col. Peter, account
of, 63-64.
Seven Years' War, described, 9
et seq.; situation of French
in 1756, 17.
Shepherd, Capt. , a prisoner, es
capes from French, 60.
Shirley, Gov. William, opposes
French, 13; account of, 68.
Smead, John, and wife, well
treated as prisoners, 65.
Stanwix, Ft., location, 29.
Stone, Dr., assists Eastburn, 59.
Ticonderoga, French post, 17.
Traders, Indian, described, 8,
10.
Treaty, Utrecht, mentioned,
10 ; Aix-la-Chapelle, men
tioned, 10.
Trent, Wm., to build fort at
forks of the Ohio, 12.
Vaudreuil, Gov. , plans attacks
on English, 17; receives East-
burn, 49; and the Oneidas,

76

INDEX

50-51 ; allows Eastburn to go
to Quebec, 62; inhumanity
of, 64-65.
Venango, Pa., on French route
to the Ohio, 12.
Villiers, Coulon de, captures
Ft. Necessity, 13.
Washington, Geo., a messenger
to the French, 12; attacks
Jumonville, 12; driven from
Ft. Necessity, 13.

Waterford, site of Le Boeuf, 11.
William, Ft., head of Mohawk,
18; described, 29.
Williams, Capt. W., commands
Ft. William, 29.
William Henry, Ft. , mentioned,
60.
Whitefield, Rev. George, de
scribed by Franklin, 8.
Wood Creek, in route to Os
wego, 29.

YALE UNIVERSITY

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