Lake Superior, “formerly called Lake Tracy, in 
honor of Mons. de Tracy, who was appointed 
viceroy of America by the French King in June, 
1665,” Long was adopted into the tribe with 
ceremonies which began by a session in the sweat 
house, subsequent tattooing, and finally the giv¬ 
ing him the name Beaver. He wintered at Lac 
la Mort, northeast of Lake Nipigon, where, ex¬ 
cept for such meat and wild rice as they could 
procure from the Indians, and the fish caught 
through the ice of the lake, they had little to 
eat. In January, 1778, their food grew very low 
and they began to trap, killing raccoons, hares 
and muskrats, a very few. 
It was during this winter that Long’s readi¬ 
ness saved the life of his whole party, and quite 
subdued a lot of drunken Indians, for it must 
be understood that a large part of the traffic of 
these traders with the Indians was for spirits. 
Long had been off with some Indians, and 
returning to Lake Manontoye, met a few In¬ 
dians who declared that Mr. Shaw and his 
party had been destroyed by Hudson’s Bay 
savages, who wished to plunder his post. 
All Long’s men stayed behind and hid them¬ 
selves, and he was left alone to go for¬ 
ward and meet the drunken Indians. He says: 
“Animated with the idea of behaving like a 
warrior, and recurring to the time when I was 
adopted at Pays Plat, I conceived it unmanly 
to shrink from danger, and pushing through the 
woods, had soon a full view of the infernal 
spirits, for I could give them no better name. 
I made all possible haste up to the house, and 
found the savages, both men and women, com¬ 
pletely drunk. The huts had been knocked 
down, the canoes adrift, and the whole formed 
the most dreadful scene of confusion I had ever 
beheld. There were also an old Indian and a 
woman, whom I afterward learned was his 
mother, lying dead upon the snow by the lake 
side. I made several efforts to get into the 
house, but was prevented by the savages, who 
kept me back, kissing me and telling me they 
loved me, but that I must not attempt to relieve 
the Cat (Mr. Shaw’s name). At last, with in¬ 
conceivable difficulty, I persuaded them to at¬ 
tend to me, and felt the most extreme satisfac¬ 
tion in having succeeded, at least so far, in an 
attempt which would have been dangerous to 
anyone to have undertaken who was not fully 
master of the language and character of the 
savages, and at the same time cool and dis¬ 
passionate enough to hear their nonsense with 
patience and temper.” 
It appeared that Mr. Shaw had refused to give 
the savages rum, and this in their intoxicated 
condition, was a serious cause of grievance. 
Long was received by Mr. Shaw and his men 
with extravagant delight. They told him their 
story, and were encouraged to keep up their 
spirits and to act with indifference when the 
Indians returned. There were visits and 
speeches, but on the following day the Indians, 
after having been quiet through the night, re¬ 
turned and asked for rum, which was at once 
given them, and they immediately went to their 
canoes and started off without burying their 
dead, a circumstance which was very alarming 
in view of the great respect commonly paid to 
the dead. The white men in the fort, therefore, 
prepared for an attack, loading their arms and 
waiting to see what should occur. In about an 
hour the Indians returned, very drunk, naked, 
painted black and singing war songs. They en¬ 
tered the fort, where Long and Mr. Shaw alone 
remained. The rest may be given in Long’s 
words: “I assumed the character of commander- 
in-chief and desired Mr. Shaw to obey my or¬ 
ders implicitly, and by no means to fire till I 
give the signal, well knowing that the death 
of one of the savages, even in our own defence, 
would so exasperate the rest that there would 
not be a possibility of escaping their fury. As 
our situation was truly critical, we acted with 
as much coolness as men devoted to destruction 
could. A fortunate thought came into my head 
which I instantly put in practice. I went into 
the store, and rolling a barrel of gunpowder 
into the outer room, knocked out the head. I 
had scarcely finished it before the savages ar¬ 
rived and, advancing to the door, armed with 
spears and tomahawks, said to each other, ‘You 
go first.’ We stood ready to receive them, and 
gave them to understand we were not afraid 
of them. One of the band entered the house, 
and I said to him sternly, ‘Who now among 
you old women is a brave soldier?’ and imme¬ 
diately pointing my pistol cocked to the barrel 
of gunpowder, cried out with emphasis, ‘We will 
all die this day.’ On hearing these words they 
ran from the door, crying, ‘The Master of Life 
has given the Beaver great strength and cour¬ 
age.’ The women fled with the utmost precipi¬ 
tation, pushed their canoes into the water and 
got off as fast as they could. The men, who 
before were intoxicated, became sober, and mak¬ 
ing as much haste as possible, paddled to an 
island opposite the house. Soon after a canoe 
came on shore with six women to endeavor to 
make up the breach, but I refused all reconcilia¬ 
tion, telling them that they might have known 
me before; that my name was Beaver; that all 
the Indians knew me to be a warrior; and that 
my heart was not easily melted. The women 
immediately returned, carrying with them the 
dead, which satisfied me they did not intend to 
trouble us again. Thus, by a happy presence of 
mind, we were saved from almost inevitable 
destruction, and probably from ending our lives 
under the most excruciating torture.” 
It is in a chapter devoted to his later journey 
from Lac la Mort to Pays Plat that Long men¬ 
tions the Indian manner of killing the white 
bear and the buffalo, though whether these ani¬ 
mals were found in the vicinity of Lac la Mort 
is not clearly stated. “The large white bear, 
commonly called the grizzly bear, is a very dan¬ 
gerous animal. When the Indians hunt it they 
generally go six or eight in a band. The instant 
they see one they endeavor to surround it by 
forming a large circle. If it is on the march, 
they fire at it, but it is most frequently dis¬ 
covered in the winter season, sucking its paws; 
in that case they approach nearer and form a 
double row for the animal to run between. One 
of the party is then sent out, who fires at the 
bear and generally wounds it. This rouses it 
to pursue the Indian who runs between the 
ranks, and the rest of the band fire and soon 
dispatch it.” 
Of the buffalo: “The Indians say its head is 
bullet proof, and therefore they always fire at 
the body, endeavoring to hit the heart. When 
they are in pursuit of this animal they make up 
small huts of snow in different places for near 
a mile in length on each side of the road. In 
each of these huts an Indian stands with a bow 
and arrow to shoot at it as it passes, preferring 
that mode to powder and ball, as it does not 
alarm the rest of the herd. The snow prevents 
the buffalo from smelling the Indian, though 
their scent is very strong and quick. The in¬ 
stant the animal drops they tomahawk it.” 
The next fall Long had a narrow escape from 
being killed by Indians through his own care¬ 
lessness. The occurrence shows that in those 
days people of great experience were no more 
careful than they are to-day. He was traveling 
on the north side of Lake Superior in the late 
fall when he met with a band of Indians and 
stopped to trade with them. “Some of the 
chiefs,” he says, “being desirous of seeing my 
Northwest guns, I was obliged to open a case 
for their inspection. This I did unwillingly, as 
the weather was fine and I was extremely anx¬ 
ious to get to the wintering ground before a 
heavy fall of snow. Having shown them the 
guns they loaded four and laid them down by 
the cases intending to try them. During the 
time they were thus employed I was busy ar¬ 
ranging the goods that had been displaced in 
getting at them, but as soon as I was at leisure 
I took up one of the guns in a careless man¬ 
ner, not knowing it was charged, and snapped 
the lock, which most unfortunately shot off the 
ear of one of the chiefs, and I also received 
some injury by the powder flying in my face 
and almost depriving me of sight. The dis¬ 
charge was so instantaneous and appeared so 
premeditated that the chief reproached me in 
very severe terms for the injury I had done 
him and threatened revenge. However, I soon 
convinced him that it was an accident, and giv¬ 
ing him some presents, he consoled himself for 
the loss of his ear, which was very large and 
handsome, and without a single break, which 
made it very valuable in his estimation. It was 
, fortunate I did not kill him, as in all probability 
we should have been sacrified to the resentment 
of the band. 
“The Indians pride themselves in having large 
ears and extended as wide as possible, which 
renders them liable to be pulled off. It is very 
common in drunken frolics to lose them, but 
when they are only torn they cut them smooth 
with a knife and sew the parts together with 
a needle and deers’ sinews, and after sweating 
in a stove, resume their usual cheerfulness.” 
This remark seems to be copied from Adair. 
Certain curious remarks made by Long about 
snakes are perhaps worth quoting. Of the rattle¬ 
snake he says: “The flesh of this reptile is 
delicious, and I have frequently eaten of it with 
great gout. I have seen the Indians poison it 
with the juice of tobacco. 
“The turkey snake is longer than the rattle¬ 
snake, with stripes on the back and a spear at 
the end of its tail like an anchor, and a double 
row of teeth in each jaw. It takes its name 
from its voice, "which resembles the note of a 
wild turkey. In the Mississippi it feeds on wild 
rice, which grows among long grass, bearing its 
head frequently erect, and makes a noise like 
a turkey to decoy it. As the bird approaches 
the snake darts its tail into it and makes it an 
easy prey. 
“The black watersnake is used by the Indians 
when they go to war. They pull out the teeth, 
tie the head and tail together, and fasten it 
round their bodies which soon kills it. They take 
it off every night and put it on every morning.” 
