9th.—We took a little foot-path hardly to be seen. We left it, and went through thick bushes, till we came to a mire, which we did not see, till we were in it; and Tom Hickman fell in, and almost broke his leg. We had hard work before we could get the horse out again. The Lord helped me, that I got safe from my horse. I and Pisquetumen had enough to do to come through. We passed many such places: it rained all day; and we got a double portion of it, because we received all that hung on the bushes. We were as wet as if we were swimming all the day; and at night we laid ourselves down in a swampy place to sleep, where we had nothing but the heavens for our covering.
10th.—We had but little to live on. Tom Hickman shot a deer on the road. Every thing here, upon the Ohio, is extremely dear, much more so than in Pennsylvania: I gave for one dish of corn four hundred and sixty wampum. They told me that the Governor of fort Duquesne kept a store of his own, and that all the Indians must come and buy the goods of him; and when they come and buy, he tells them, if they will go to war, they shall have as much goods as they please. Before I set off, I heard further, that a French captain who goes to all the Indian towns[61] came to Sacunck, and said, “Children, will you not come and help your father against the English?” They answered, “Why should we go to war against our brethren? They are now our friends.” “O! Children,” said he, “I hope you do not own them for friends.” “Yes,” said they, “We do; we are their friends, and we hope they will remain ours.” “O! Children, said he, you must not believe what you have heard, and what has been told you by that man.” They said to him, “Yes, we do believe him more than we do you: it was you that set us against them; and we will by and by have peace with them;” and then he spoke not a word more, but returned to the fort. So, I hope, some good is done: praised be the name of the Lord.
11th.—Being Monday, we went over Antigoc:[62] we went down a very steep hill, and our horses slipt so far, that I expected, every moment, they would fall heels over head. We found fresh Indian tracts on the other side of the river. We crossed Allegheny river, and went through the bushes upon a high hill, and slept upon the side of the mountain, without fire, for fear of the enemy. It was a cold night, and I had but a thin blanket to cover myself.
12th.—We made a little fire, to warm ourselves in the morning. Our horses began to be weary with climbing up and down these steep mountains. We came this night to the top of a mountain, where we found a log-house. Here we made a small fire, just to boil ourselves a little victuals. The Indians were very much afraid, and lay with their guns and tomhocks on all night. They heard somebody run and whisper in the night. I slept very sound, and in the morning they asked me, if I was not afraid the enemy Indians would kill me. I said, “No, I am not afraid of the Indians, nor the devil himself: I fear my great Creator, God.” “Aye, they said, you know you will go to a good place when you die, but we do not know that: that makes us afraid.”
13th.—In the afternoon we twice crossed Chowatin, and came to Ponchestanning,[63] an old deserted Indian town, that lies on the same creek. We went through a bad swamp, where were very thick sharp thorns, so that they tore our cloaths and flesh, both hands and face, to a bad degree. We had this kind of road all the day. In the evening we made a fire, and then they heard something rush, in the bushes, as though they heard somebody walk. Then we went about three gun-shot from our fire, and could not find a place to lie down on, for the innumerable rocks; so that we were obliged to get small stones to fill up the hollow places in the rocks, for our bed; but it was very uneasy; almost shirt and skin grew together. They kept watch one after another all night.
14th.—In the morning, I asked them what made them afraid. They said, I knew nothing; the French had set a great price on my head; and they knew there was gone out a great scout to lie in wait for me. We went over great mountains and a very bad road.
15th.—We came to Susquehanna, and crossed it six times, and came to Catawaweshink, where had been an old Indian town.[64] In the evening there came three Indians, and said they saw two Indian tracks, which came to the place where we slept, and turned back, as if to give information of us to a party; so that we were sure they followed us.
16th and 17th.—We crossed the mountain.
18th.—Came to the Big Island, where having nothing to live on, we were obliged to stay to hunt.
19th.—We met 20 warriors, who were returning from the inhabitants, with five prisoners and one scalp; six of them were Delawares, the rest Mingoes. We sat down all in one ring together. I informed them where I had been, and what was done; they asked me to go back a little, and so I did, and slept all night with them. I informed them of the particulars of the peace proposed; they said, “If they had known so much before, they would not have gone to war. Be strong; if you make a good peace, then we will bring all the prisoners back again.” They killed two deer, and gave me one.