By Robert Griffing.
THE NINTH REMOVE
But instead of going either to Albany or
homeward, we must go five miles up the river, and then go over it. Here we
abode a while. Here lived a sorry Indian, who spoke to me to make him a shirt.
When I had done it, he would pay me nothing. But he living by the riverside,
where I often went to fetch water, I would often be putting of him in mind, and
calling for my pay: At last he told me if I would make another shirt, for a
papoose not yet born, he would give me a knife, which he did when I had done
it. I carried the knife in, and my master asked me to give it him, and I was
not a little glad that I had anything that they would accept of, and be pleased
with. When we were at this place, my master's maid came home; she had been gone
three weeks into the Narragansett country to fetch corn, where they had stored
up some in the ground. She brought home about a peck and half of corn. This was
about the time that their great captain, Naananto, was killed in the
Narragansett country. My son being now about a mile from me, I asked liberty to
go and see him; they bade me go, and away I went; but quickly lost myself,
traveling over hills and through swamps, and could not find the way to him. And
I cannot but admire at the wonderful power and goodness of God to me, in that,
though I was gone from home, and met with all sorts of Indians, and those I had
no knowledge of, and there being no Christian soul near me; yet not one of them
offered the least imaginable miscarriage to me. I turned homeward again, and
met with my master. He showed me the way to my son. When I came to him I found
him not well: and withall he had a boil on his side, which much troubled him.
We bemoaned one another a while, as the Lord helped us, and then I returned
again. When I was returned, I found myself as unsatisfied as I was before. I
went up and down mourning and lamenting; and my spirit was ready to sink with
the thoughts of my poor children. My son was ill, and I could not but think of
his mournful looks, and no Christian friend was near him, to do any office of
love for him, either for soul or body. And my poor girl, I knew not where she
was, nor whether she was sick, or well, or alive, or dead. I repaired under
these thoughts to my Bible (my great comfort in that time) and that Scripture
came to my hand, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain
thee" (Psalm 55.22).
But I was fain to go and look after
something to satisfy my hunger, and going among the wigwams, I went into one
and there found a squaw who showed herself very kind to me, and gave me a piece
of bear. I put it into my pocket, and came home, but could not find an
opportunity to broil it, for fear they would get it from me, and there it lay
all that day and night in my stinking pocket. In the morning I went to the same
squaw, who had a kettle of ground nuts boiling. I asked her to let me boil my
piece of bear in her kettle, which she did, and gave me some ground nuts to eat
with it: and I cannot but think how pleasant it was to me. I have sometime seen
bear baked very handsomely among the English, and some like it, but the thought
that it was bear made me tremble. But now that was savory to me that one would
think was enough to turn the stomach of a brute creature.
One bitter cold day I could find no room
to sit down before the fire. I went out, and could not tell what to do, but I
went in to another wigwam, where they were also sitting round the fire, but the
squaw laid a skin for me, and bid me sit down, and gave me some ground nuts,
and bade me come again; and told me they would buy me, if they were able, and
yet these were strangers to me that I never saw before.
THE TENTH REMOVE
That day a small part of the company
removed about three-quarters of a mile, intending further the next day. When
they came to the place where they intended to lodge, and had pitched their
wigwams, being hungry, I went again back to the place we were before at, to get
something to eat, being encouraged by the squaw's kindness, who bade me come
again. When I was there, there came an Indian to look after me, who when he had
found me, kicked me all along. I went home and found venison roasting that
night, but they would not give me one bit of it. Sometimes I met with favor,
and sometimes with nothing but frowns.
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