gave for answer, "that I did not know what to think of their conduct. It is plain, said I, that the French have a public road[1] to your towns, yet you will not let your own flesh and blood, the Englijh, come near them; which is very hard: and if that be the case, the French must be your masters." I added, that, if I died in the undertaking, it would be as much for the Indians as the Englijh, and that I hoped my journey would be of this advantage, that it would be the means of saving the lives of many hundreds of the Indians: therefore, I was resolved to go forward, taking my life in my hand, as one ready to part with it for their good. Immediately after I had spoken thus, three rose up and offered to go with me the nearest way; and we concluded to go through the inhabitants, under the Blue mountains to fort Augusta, on Susquahanna; where we arrived the 25th.[2]
It gave me great pain to observe many plantations deserted and laid waste; and I could not but reflect on the distress, the poor owners must be drove to, who once lived in plenty; and I prayed the Lord to restore peace and prosperity to the distressed.
At fort Augusta we were entertained very kindly, had
our horses shod, and one being lame, we exchanged for]
————
- ↑ An Indian expression meaning free admission.—[C. T.?]
- ↑ Post, after leaving Fort Allen, passed through the present Carbon County, crossed the headwaters of the Schuylkill, and traversed Northumberland County to Fort Augusta. On the massacres in that region see Rupp, History of Northumberland, etc., (Lancaster, 1847), pp. 100-116. Fort Augusta, at the forks of the Susquehanna, was built in 1756, at the request of the Indians settled there under the chieftainship of Shickalamy. It was not a mere stockade and blockhouse, but a regular fortification, provided with cannon, and was commanded at first by Colonel Clapham, succeeded by Colonel James Burd. This stronghold was garrisoned until after the Revolutionary War; but before that time settlement had begun to spring up about the fort, and the town of Sunbury was laid out in 1772.—Ed.
