THE DIVIDING LINE. 
57 
abundance of very sweet grapes, which, with the help of bread, might have 
furnished out a good Italian repast, in the' absence of more savoury food. 
The men’s mouths watered at the sight 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 prayer ; for our men, taking no care for the morrow, like good Chris- 
tians, but bad travellers, ha(J improvidently 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 a,rms 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. 
