PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
107 
with the forces of several tribes combined, they had never before 
succeeded in compelling them to retire beyond the river, which, 
it will be remembered, is about one quarter of a mile from the 
fort. 
There are but three entrances into this valley* one on the 
west which we descended, one on the east, and one from the beach. 
No force whatever had before dared to attack them on the west, 
on account of the impossibility of retreating, in case of a repulse, 
which they calculated on as certain. The ( passage on the east led 
from the valley of their friends, and that from the beach was 
guarded by fortresses deemed impregnable, and justly so against 
any force which could be brought against them unassisted by ar¬ 
tillery. On viewing the strength of this place I could not help 
felicitating myself on the lucky circumstance which had induced 
me to attack them by land, for I believed we should have failed 
in an attempt on this place. I had determined, on first starting, 
not to return until I had destroyed this fort, and now intended put¬ 
ting my design in execution. To have thrown it down by remov¬ 
ing the stones singly would have required more time than we had 
to spare, and concluding that, by our united efforts, we should 
be enabled to demolish the whole at once, I directed the Indians 
and my own men to put their shoulders to the wall and endeavour, 
by efforts made at the same instant, to throw it down; but it was 
built with so much solidity that no impression could be made on 
it; we therefore left it as a monument to future generations of their 
skill and industry. This fortification appeared of ancient date, 
and time alone can destroy it. We succeeded in making a small 
breach in the wall through which we passed on our route to the beach, 
a route which was familiar to us, but had now become doubly intri¬ 
cate from the number of trees which had since been cut down 
and placed across the pathway as much to impede our advance as 
to embarrass us in our retreat—we fancied the same had been prac ¬ 
tised on the bank of the river. 
On my arrival at the beach I met Tavee and many of his 
tribe, together with the chiefs of the Happahs. Tavee was the 
bearer of a white flag and several of the same emblems of peace 
were flying on the different hills around his valley He was desirous 
of knowing whether I intended going to their valley and wished to 
VOL. II, 
