affirm, that in the morning entering into the swamp, they saw several heaps of them sitting close together, upon whom they discharged their pieces laden with ten or twelve pistol bullets at a time, putting the muzzles of their pieces under the boughs, within a few yards of them; so as besides those that were found dead (near twenty), it was judged many more were killed and sunk into the mire, and never were minded more by friend or foe. Of those who were not so desperate or sullen as to sell their lives for nothing, but yielded in time, the male children were sent to the Bermudas. Of the females, some were distributed to the English towns; some disposed of among the other Indians, to whom they were deadly enemies as well as to ourselves." * Dr. Trumbull says, that " a number of the women and boys were sent to the West Indies and sold as slaves."† Sassacus, their chief sachem, made his escape; but he was some time afterwards killed by the Mohawks, and his scalp sent as a present of high value to the English in Connecticut. The result of this war, which terminated in 1637, and of the mode in which the vanquished were treated in the course of it, was the almost total extinction of the Pequot Indians— a nation *Hubbard's Narrative, p. 130. Trumbull's Hist. of Connecticut, book i. ch. 5. which, in the time of its prosperity, is stated to have been able to bring four thousand warriors into the field.* The distribution of the Indian prisoners taken in the Pequot war, occasioned the rupture which subsequently took place between the English and their own allies the Narragansets; who are stated to have been instigated to hostilities by their celebrated chief Miantonimo. "This Miantonimo was a very goodly personage, of tall stature, subtle and cunning in his contrivements, as well as haughty in his designs. It was strongly suspected that he had contrived to draw all the Indians throughout the country into a general conspiracy against the English.”f In consequence of these suspicions, the governor and magistrates ordered all the Indians within their jurisdiction to be disarmed; but no proof was discovered of any intention having existed on their part to act with hostility. Miantonimo, however, was sent for; who appeared without hesitation before the general court of the province. He boldly demanded that he should be * The Pequots, and those tribes under their immediate protection, inhabited a large track of country, extending from the Hudson River to Narraganset-including, as is generally stated, all Long Island. They are now reduced to a few miserable, drunken, idle Indians, chiefly to be found in the township of Stonington, in Connecticut. + Hubbard's Narrative. confronted with his accusers; and that if they could not prove their charges, they should be punished. The English, however, upon this occasion at length contrived to satisfy him.* But hostilities soon afterwards broke out between the Narragansets and Mohegan Indians; in the course of which Miantonimo was taken prisoner; and soon after, "by. the advice of the commissioners of the four colonies, his head was cut off by Uncas, (the chief of the latter tribe,) it being justly feared that there never would be any firm peace, either betwixt the English and the Narragansets, or the Narragansets and the Mohegans, while Miantonimo was left alive. However, the Narragansets have ever since that time bore an implacable malice against Uncas, and all the Mohegans, and for their sakes against the English, so far as they durst discover it:"t and no wonder. The same system, indeed, may be traced through a great proportion of the public acts which affected the Indian population at that period. In a declaration, issued by the New England commissioners, we read, "Whereas also, it is the manner of the heathens that are now in hostility with us, contrary to the practice of all civil nations, to execute their bloody insolencies by stealth, and skulking * Hubbard's History of New England, ch. 51. in small parties, declining all open decision either by treaty or by the sword." And-as if an Indian had no right to fight his own battle in his own way"The council do therefore order that it shall be lawful for any person, whether English or Indian, that shall find any Indians travelling or skulking in any of the towns or woods, contrary to the limits above named, to command them under their guard and examination, or to kill and destroy them as they best may or can." To this sweeping clause however, was added a salvo : "The council hereby declaring, that it will be most acceptable to them that none be killed or wounded that are willing to surrender themselves into custody." This proviso, however, was probably of little use to the Indians, whose only alternative in many cases seems to have been death or slavery. Captain Moseley being there, and plying about, found eighty Indians, who surrendered themselves and were secured in a house provided for them near Plimouth. Thereupon Captain Moseley came to Boston to know the pleasure of the authorities about them, and in a day's time returned with their order, he should kill none that he took alive, but secure them in order to a transportation. Whereupon afterwards there was shipped on board Captain Sprague one hundred and seventy * Present State of New England, p. 8. London, 1675. eight Indians, on the 28th of September, bound for Cales."* This Captain Moseley seems to have been a very active partisan, or, as Governor Hutchinson calls him," an old privateerer from Jamaica, pro. bably of such as were called Buccanniers." One of his campaigns is thus recorded by Hubbard :"The next day the inhabitants sent to demand their guns, (the guns of some Indians then at peace with the English;) Captain Moseley acquainted therewith, marched to the fort, and found much suspicion against eleven of them for singing and dancing, and having bullets and slugs, and much powder hid in their baskets; in so much that eleven of them were sent down by him prisoners to Boston, upon suspicion that they had an hand in killing the four at Lancaster, and shooting at the Malberough shepherd. But upon tryal, the said prisoners were all of them quitted from the fact; and were either released, or also were, with others of that sort, sent for better security, and for preventing future trouble in the like kind, to some of the islands below Boston towards Nantasket." This was certainly exercising a rigour beyond the law-even as laid down by the" stout John Gallop" himself for Gallop only executed his prisoners before they were tried, but the court of Massachussets punished * Present State of New England, p. 8. + Hutchinson's History of Massachussets, ch. 2. |