178 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1771. escape, and if they found me alone, not knowing me from an 

 ^^ ^' enemy, they would probably proceed to violence against me 

 when no person was near to assist. For this reason I deter- 

 mined to accompany them, telling them at the same time, 

 that I would not have any hand in the murder they were 

 about to commit, [152] unless I found it necessary for my own 

 safety. The Indians were not displeased at this proposal ; 

 one of them immediately fixed me a spear, and another lent 

 me a broad bayonet for my protection, but at that time I 

 could not be provided with a target ; nor did I want to be 

 encumbered with such an unnecessary piece of lumber. 



While we lay in ambush, the Indians performed the last 

 ceremonies which were thought necessary before the engage- 

 ment. These chiefly consisted in painting their faces ; some 

 all black, some all red, and others with a mixture of the two ; 

 and to prevent their hair from blowing into their eyes, it was 

 either tied before and behind, and on both sides, or else cut 

 short all round. The next thing they considered was to make 

 themselves as light as possible for running ; which they did, 

 by pulling off their stockings, and either cutting off the 

 sleeves of their jackets, or rolling them up close to their arm- 

 pits ; and though the muskettoes at that time were so numerous 

 as to surpass all credibility, yet some of the Indians actually 

 pulled off their jackets and entered the lists quite naked, 

 except their breech-cloths and shoes. Fearing I might have 

 occasion to run with the rest, I thought it also advisable to 

 pull off my stockings and cap, and to tie my hair as close up 

 as possible. 



By the time the Indians had made themselves thus com- 

 pletely frightful, it was near one o'clock in the [153] morning 

 17th. of the seventeenth ; when finding all the Esquimaux quiet 

 in their tents, they rushed forth from their ambuscade, and fell 

 on the poor unsuspecting creatures, unperceived till close at 

 the very eves of their tents, when they soon began the bloody 

 massacre, while I stood neuter in the rear. 



