I then joined the eighth regiment of foot, commanded by captain Foster, to attack the Americans at the Cedars, whom we also defeated. The prisoners were left at Fort St. Vielle, or Prison Island, at the foot of the Falls, under a proper guard; and the remains of our small army, consisting of about one hundred and fifty men, went down to La Chine to engage another body of Americans; but finding them too strongly entrenched, we retreated to Point Clair, where we stayed till we received intelligence that general Arnold, with four thousand men were at Isle au Noix, and that major Gordon was killed in his way to St. John’s, about two miles from the fort.[36] On this occasion it may not be amiss to observe, that the custom adopted by the Americans, and with so much success, of levelling their pieces at the officers, originated with the Indians, who are possessed with an idea that the men will naturally be thrown into confusion when their leaders are dead. This however is not without exceptions: the Mattaugwessawacks, whose country lies westward of Lake Superior, hold the persons of officers sacred; and Josepsis, one of their tribe, who was taken prisoner, and sold to the Penobscot Indians, says that the Savages they were at war with have adopted the same method. {20} I was immediately ordered on a scout, at the head of ten Connecedaga or Rondaxe Indians, with captain La Motte, a Canadian gentleman,[37] in search of the person who had killed major Gordon, and to reconnoitre the woods, in hopes of gaining information of the real force of the Americans at Isle au Noix. To avoid suspicion, we were all dressed like Savages; and as captain La Motte and myself were well acquainted with the Iroquois language, it was impossible to distinguish us from the natives. We were out six days and nights, with very little provision, living chiefly on the scrapings of the inner bark of trees and wild roots, particularly onions, which grow in great abundance, and are not disagreeable to the palate. Hunger reconciles us to every thing that will support nature, and makes the most indifferent food acceptable. From my own woful experience I can assert, that what at any other time would have been unpleasant and even nauseous, under the pressure of hunger is not only greedily eaten, but relished as a luxury. Those who are acquainted with the nature of roving in the woods in time of war, know the necessity of travelling light, and particularly on an Indian scout, as the Savages seldom take any thing but a small quantity of Indian corn and Maple sugar, which, after beating the corn between two stones, they mix with water, and on this they subsist. During this expedition, as the business was urgent, and the enemy near at hand, we depended on adventitious food.