THE DIVIDING LINE 57 



abundance of very sweet grapes, which, with the iiel|) of bread, might hav(! 

 furnished out a £jood Italian repast, in tiie al)sencc of more savoury food. 

 The men's mouths watered at the sigiit of a prodigious flight of wild pigeons, 

 which flew high over our heads to the southward. The flocks of these birds 

 of passage are so amazingly great, sometimes, that they darken the sky ; 

 nor is it uncommon for them to light in such numbers in the larger limbs of 

 mulberry trees and oaks as to break them down. In their travels they make 

 vast havoc amongst the acorns and berries of all sorts, that they waste whole 

 forests in a short time, and leave a famine behind them for most other crea- 

 tures ; and under some trees where they light, it is no strange thing to find the 

 ground covered three inches thick with their dung. These wild pigeons 

 commonly breed in the uninhabited parts of Canada, and as the cold ap- 

 proaches assemble their armies and bend their course 'southerly, .shifting their 

 quarters, like many of the winged kind, according to the season. But the 

 most remarkable thing in their flight, as we are told, is that they never have 

 been observed to return to the northern countries the same way they came 

 from thence, but take quite another route, I suppose for their better subsist- 

 ence. In these long flights they are very lean, and their flesh is far from being 

 white or tender, though good enough upon a march, when hunger is the 

 sauce, and makes it go down better than truffles and morels would do. 



20th. It was now Sunday, which we had like to have spent in fasting as 

 well as pra3'er; for our men, taking no care for the morrow, like good Chris- 

 tians, but bad travellers, had improvi Jently devoured all their meat for sup- 

 per. They were ordered in the morning to drive up their horses, lest they 

 should stray too far from the camp and be lost, in case they were let alone 

 all day. At their return they had the very great comfort to behold a 

 monstrous fat bear, which the Indian had killed very seasonably for their 

 breakfast. We thought it still necessary to make another reduction of our 

 bread, from four to three pounds a week to every man, computing that we 

 had still enough in that proportion to last us three weeks longer. The at- 

 mosphere was so smoky all round us, that the mountains were again grown 

 invisible. This happened not from the haziness of the sky, but from the 

 firing of the woods by the Indians, for we were now near the route the 

 the northern savages take when they go out to war against the Catawbas 

 and other southern nations. On their way the fires they make in 

 their camps are left burning, which, catching the dry leaves that lie near, 

 soon put the adjacent woods into a flame. Some of our men in search 

 of their horses discovered one of those Indian camps, where not long 

 before they had been a furring and dressing their skins. And now I mention 

 the northern Indians, it may not be improper to take notice of their implaca- 

 ble hatred to those of the south. Their wars are everlasting, without any 

 peace, enmity being the only inheritance among them that descends from 

 father to son, and either party will march a thousand miles to take their 

 revenge upon such hereditary enemies. These long expeditions are com- 

 monly carried on in the following manner ; some Indian, remarkable for his 

 prowess, that has raised himself to the reputation of a war captain, declares 

 his intention of paying a visit to some southern nation ; hereupon as many 

 of the young fellows as have either a strong thirst of blood or glory, list 

 themselves under his command. With these volunteers he goes from one 

 confederate town to another, listing all the rabble he can, till he has gathered 

 together a competent number for mischief Their arms are a gun and toma- 

 hawk, and all the provisions they carry from home is a pouch of rocka- 

 hominy. Thus provided and accoutred, they march towards their enemy's 

 country, not in a body, or by a certain path, but straggling in small numbers, 

 for the greater convenience of hunting and passing along undiscovered. 



