1763, Sept.] THE CONVOY ATTACKED. 77 



an escort of twenty-four soldiers. They pursued 

 their slow progress until they reached a point 

 where the road passed along the brink of the 

 Devil's Hole. The gulf yawned on their left, 

 while on their right the road was skirted by low 

 densely wooded hills. Suddenly they were greeted 

 by the blaze and clatter of a hundred rifles. Then 

 followed the startled cries of men, and the bound- 

 ing of maddened horses. At the next instant, a 

 host of Indians broke screeching from the woods, 

 and rifle-butt and tomahawk finished the bloody 

 work. All was over in a moment. Horses leaped 

 the precipice ; men were driven shrieking into the 

 abyss ; teams and wagons went over, crashing to 

 atoms among the rocks below^ Tradition relates 

 that the drummer-boy of the detachment was 

 caught, in his fall, among the branches of a tree, 

 where he hung suspended by his drum-strap. 

 Being but slightly injured, he disengaged himself, 

 and, hiding in. the recesses of the gulf, finally 

 escaped. One of the teamsters also, who w^as 

 wounded at the first fire, contrived to crawl into 

 the woods, where he lay concealed till the Indians 

 had left the place. Besides these two, the only sur- 

 vivor was Stedman, the conductor of the convoy ; 

 who, being well mounted, and seeing the whole 

 party forced helpless towards the precipice, w^heeled 

 his horse, and resolutely spurred through the crowd 

 of Indians. One of them, it is said, seized his 

 bridle ; but he freed himself by a dexterous use of 

 his knife, and plunged into the woods, untouched 



