Captives among the Indians : $b first-hand narratives of Indian wars, customs, tortures, and habits of life in colonial timesRowlandson, Mary White
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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
"_Brother_,--I have somewhat to say to you, and I hope you will not be
offended when I tell you of your faults. You know that when you were
reading your books in town I would not let the boys or any one disturb
you; but now, when I was praying, I saw you laughing. I do not think
that you look upon praying as a foolish thing; I believe you pray
yourself. But perhaps you may think my mode or manner of praying
foolish; if so, you ought in a friendly manner to instruct me, and not
make sport of sacred things."
I acknowledged my error, and on this he handed me his pipe to smoke, in
token of friendship and reconciliation, though at this time he had
nothing to smoke but red-willow bark. I told him something of the
method of reconciliation with an offended God, as revealed in my Bible,
which I had then in possession. He said that he liked my story better
than that of the French priests, but he thought that he was now too old
to begin to learn a new religion, therefore he should continue to
worship God in the way that he had been taught, and that if salvation
or future happiness was to be had in his way of worship, he expected he
would obtain it, and if it was inconsistent with the honor of the Great
Spirit to accept of him in his own way of worship, he hoped that
Owaneeyo would accept of him in the way I had mentioned, or in some
other way, though he might now be ignorant of the channel through which
favor or mercy might be conveyed. He said that he believed that
Owaneeyo would hear and help every one that sincerely waited upon him.
A few days after Tecaughretanego had gone through his ceremonies and
finished his prayers, the rain came and raised the creek a sufficient
height, so that we passed in safety down to Scioto, and proceeded up to
the carrying-place. We proceeded from this place down Sandusky, and in
our passage we killed four bears and a number of turkeys.
Tecaughretanego appeared now fully persuaded that all this came in
answer to his prayers, and who can say with any degree of certainty
that it was not so?
When we came to the little lake at the mouth of Sandusky, we called at
a Wyandot town that was then there, called Sunyendeand. Here we
diverted ourselves several days by catching rock-fish in a small creek,
the name of which is also Sunyendeand, which signifies rock-fish. They
fished in the night with lights, and struck the fish with gigs or
spears. The rock-fish here, when they begin first to run up the creek
to spawn, are exceedingly fat, sufficiently so to fry themselves. The
first night we scarcely caught fish enough for present use for all that
were in the town.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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