cxxvm 
LIFE OF WILSON. 
wrapt up in my great coat, and my own skin had to sustain a com- 
plete drenching, which, however, had no bad eflFects. This even- 
ing I lodged at the most wretched hovel I had yet seen. The 
owner, a meager diminutive wretch, soon began to let me know of 
how much consequence he had formerly been; that he had gone 
through all the war with general Washington — had become one of 
his Ufe-gtiards, and had sent many a British soldier to his long 
home. As I answered him with indifference, to interest me the 
more he began to detail anecdotes of his wonderful exploits ; One 
grenadier,” said he, “had the impudence to get up on the works, 
and to wave his cap in defiance; my commander [general Wash- 
ington I suppose] says to me, “Dick, says he, can’t you pepper 
that there fellow for me ?” says he. “ Please your honour, says I, 
ril try at it ; so I took a fair, cool and steady aim, and touched 
my trigger. Up went his heels like a turkey ! down he tumbled ! 
one buckshot had entered here and another here, [laying a finger on 
each breast] and the bullet found the way to his brains right through 
his forehead. By God he was a noble looking fellow!” Though I 
believed every word of this lobe a lie, yet I could not but look with 
disgust on the being who uttered it. This same miscreant pro- 
nounced a long prayer before supper, and immediately after called 
out, in a splutter of oaths, for the pine splinters to be held to let 
the gentleman see. Such a farrago of lies, oaths, prayers, and po- 
liteness, put me in a good humour in spite of myself. The whole 
herd of this filthy kennel were in perpetual motion with the itch, 
so having procured a large fire to be made, under pretence of habit 
I sought for the softest plank, placed my trunk and great coat at 
my head, and stretched myself there till morning. I set out early 
and passed several arks. A number of turkies which I observed 
from time to time on the Indiana shore, made me lose half the 
morning in search of them. On the Kentucky shore I was also de- 
coyed by the same temptations, but never could approach near 
enough to shoot one of them. These affairs detained me so that 
