Captives among the Indians : $b first-hand narratives of Indian wars, customs, tortures, and habits of life in colonial timesRowlandson, Mary White
History
Captives among the Indians : $b first-hand narratives of Indian wars, customs, tortures, and habits of life in colonial times
Rowlandson, Mary White
Indian captivities -- Northeastern States
When we came to this place, we met with some Ottawa hunters, and agreed
with them to take what they call a ring hunt, in partnership. We waited
until we expected rain was near falling to extinguish the fire, and
then we kindled a large circle in the prairie. At this time, or before
the bucks began to run, a great number of deer lay concealed in the
grass in the day, and moved about in the night; but as the fire burned
in towards the centre of the circle, the deer fled before the fire; the
Indians were scattered also at some distance before the fire, and shot
them down every opportunity, which was very frequent, especially as the
circle became small. When we came to divide the deer, there were about
ten to each hunter, which were all killed in a few hours. The rain did
not come on that night to put out the outside circle of the fire, and
as the wind arose, it extended through the whole prairie, which was
about fifty miles in length, and in some places nearly twenty in
breadth. This put an end to our ring hunting this season, and was in
other respects an injury to us in the hunting business; so that upon
the whole we received more harm than benefit by our rapid hunting
frolic. We then moved from the north end of the glades, and encamped at
the carrying-place.
About the time the bucks quit running, Tontileaugo, his wife and
children, Tecaughretanego, his son Nunganey, and myself, left the
Wyandot camps at the carrying-place, and crossed the Sciota River at
the south end of the glades, and proceeded on about a southwest course
to a large creek called Ollentangy, which I believe interlocks with the
waters of the Miami, and empties into Sciota on the west side thereof.
From the south end of the prairie to Ollentangy there is a large
quantity of beech land, intermixed with first-rate land. Here we made
our winter hut, and had considerable success in hunting.
After some time one of Tontileaugo's stepsons (a lad about eight years
of age) offended him, and he gave the boy a moderate whipping, which
much displeased his Wyandot wife. She acknowledged that the boy was
guilty of a fault, but thought that he ought to have been ducked, which
is their usual mode of chastisement. She said she could not bear to
have her son whipped like a servant or slave; and she was so
displeased, that when Tontileaugo went out to hunt, she got her two
horses, and all her effects (as in this country the husband and wife
have separate interests), and moved back to the Wyandot camp that we
had left.
When Tontileaugo returned he was much disturbed on hearing of his
wife's elopement, and said that he would never go after her, were it
not that he was afraid that she would get bewildered, and that his
children that she had taken with her might suffer. Tontileaugo went
after his wife, and when they met they made up the quarrel; and he
never returned, but left Tecaughretanego and his son (a boy about ten
years of age), and myself, who remained here in our hut all winter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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