He gave us an amusing account of his horse getting mired in crossing Buffalo Creek, and of his paying a visit to the tribe of Seneca Indians, near to the town of Buffalo, on Lake Erie:—
“Being conducted,” said he, “to the village and to the chief’s wigwam, I shook hands with the chief, who came and stood by my horse’s head, and while some hundreds of men, women, and children were gathering around, I told the chief that I had come to make him a visit of a day or two, to which he replied that he was very glad to see me, and I should be made quite welcome, and treated to the best that he had. He said there would be one condition, however, which was, that he should require me to give him everything I had; he should demand my horse, from which I would dismount, and having given him the bridle, he said, ‘I now want your gun, your watch, and all your money; these are indispensable.’
“I then, for the first time in my life, began to think that I was completely robbed and plundered; but at the moment when he had got all, and before I had time for more than an instant thought of my awkward condition, he released me from all further alarm by continuing, ‘If you have anything else which you wish to be sure to get again, I wish you to let me have it; for whatever you deliver into my hands now you will be sure to find safe when you are about to leave; otherwise I would not be willing to vouch for their safety; for there are some of my people whom we cannot trust to.’
“From this moment I felt quite easy, and spent a day or two in their village very pleasantly, and with much amusement. When I was about to leave, my horse was brought to the chief’s door and saddled, and all the property I had left in his hands safely restored.
“I then mounted my horse, and, having taken leave, and proceeded a short distance on my route, I discovered that I had left my favourite dog, which I had been too much excited and amused to think of, and did not recollect to have seen after I entered their village.
“I turned my horse and rode back to the door of the chief’s wigwam, and made inquiries for it. The chief said, ‘But you did not intrust your dog to my care, did you?’ ‘No, I did not think of my poor dog at the time.’ ‘Well then,’ said he, ‘I can’t answer for it. If you had done as I told you, your dog would have been safe. However,’ said he, ‘we will inquire for it.’ At which moment one of his little sons was ordered to run and open a rude pen or cage by the corner of the wigwam, and out leaped my dog, and sprang upon my leg as I was sitting on my horse. I offered the honest chief a reward for his kindness; but he refused to accept it, wishing me to recollect, whenever I was amongst Indians again, to repose confidence in an Indian’s word, and feel assured that all the property intrusted to an Indian’s care I would be sure to find safe whenever I wanted it again.”
After reciting this amusing incident, his Majesty described to me the route which he and his brothers took from Buffalo to the falls of Niagara, and thence on horseback to Geneva, a small town at the foot of the Seneca Lake, where they sold their horses, and, having purchased a small boat, rowed it 90 miles to Ithaca, at the head of the lake. From thence they travelled on foot, with their luggage carried on their backs, 30 miles to Tioga, on the banks of the Susquehana, where they purchased a canoe from the Indians, and descended in it that romantic and beautiful river, to a small town called Wilkesbarre, in the valley of Wyoming.
From thence, with their knapsacks on their backs, they crossed the Wilkesbarre and Pokono mountains to Easton, and from thence were conveyed in a coach to Philadelphia.
I here surprised his Majesty a little, and his listeners, and seemed to add a fresh interest to his narrative, by informing him that I was a native of Wilkesbarre, in the valley of Wyoming, and that while his Majesty was there I was an infant in my mother’s arms, only a few months old.
He related a number of pleasing recollections of his visit to my native valley, and then gave us an account of an Indian ball-play amongst the Cherokees and Choctaws, where he saw 500 or 600 engaged, during the whole day, before the game was decided; and he pronounced it one of the most exciting and beautiful scenes he had ever beheld.