New France and New England.
The Frontier of New England ? Border Warfare1 ? Motives2 of the French ? Needless Barbarity ? Who were answerable? ? Father Thury ? The Abenakis waver ? Treachery at Pemaquid ? Capture of Pemaquid ? Projected Attack on Boston ? Disappointment ? Miseries4 of the Frontier ? A Captive Amazon.
"This stroke," says Villebon, speaking of the success at Oyster5 River, "is of great advantage, because it breaks off all the talk of peace between our Indians and the English. The English are in despair, for not even infants in the cradle were spared." [1]
[1] "Ce coup7 est très-avantageux, parcequ'il rompte tous les pour-parlers de paix entre nos sauvages et les Anglois. Les Anglois sont au désespoir de ce qu'ils ont tué jusqu'aux enfants au berceau." Villebon au Ministre, 19 Sept., 1694.
I have given the story in detail, as showing the origin and character of the destructive raids, of which New England annalists show only the results. The borders of New England were peculiarly vulnerable. In Canada, the settlers built their houses in lines, within supporting distance of each other, along the margin8 of a river which supplied easy transportation for troops; and, in time of danger, they all took refuge in forts under command 371 of the local seigniors, or of officers with detachments of soldiers. The exposed part of the French colony extended along the St. Lawrence about ninety miles. The exposed frontier of New England was between two and three hundred miles long, and consisted of farms and hamlets, loosely scattered9 through an almost impervious10 forest. Mutual11 support was difficult or impossible. A body of Indians and Canadians, approaching secretly and swiftly, dividing into small bands, and falling at once upon the isolated12 houses of an extensive district, could commit prodigious13 havoc14 in a short time, and with little danger. Even in so-called villages, the houses were far apart, because, except on the sea-shore, the people lived by farming. Such as were able to do so fenced their dwellings15 with palisades, or built them of solid timber, with loopholes, a projecting upper story like a blockhouse, and sometimes a flanker at one or more of the corners. In the more considerable settlements, the largest of these fortified16 houses was occupied, in time of danger, by armed men, and served as a place of refuge for the neighbors. The palisaded house defended by Convers at Wells was of this sort, and so also was the Woodman house at Oyster River. These were "garrison17 houses," properly so called, though the name was often given to fortified dwellings occupied only by the family. The French and Indian war-parties commonly avoided the true garrison houses, and very rarely captured them, except unawares; for their tactics were essentially18 Iroquois, and consisted, 372 for the most part, in pouncing19 upon peaceful settlers by surprise, and generally in the night. Combatants and non-combatants were slaughtered21 together. By parading the number of slain22, without mentioning that most of them were women and children, and by counting as forts mere23 private houses surrounded with palisades, Charlevoix and later writers have given the air of gallant24 exploits to acts which deserve a very different name. To attack military posts, like Casco and Pemaquid, was a legitimate25 act of war; but systematically26 to butcher helpless farmers and their families can hardly pass as such, except from the Iroquois point of view.
The chief alleged27 motive3 for this ruthless warfare was to prevent the people of New England from invading Canada, by giving them employment at home; though, in fact, they had never thought of invading Canada till after these attacks began. But for the intrigues29 of Denonville, the Bigots, Thury, and Saint-Castin, before war was declared, and the destruction of Salmon30 Falls after it, Phips's expedition would never have taken place. By successful raids against the borders of New England, Frontenac roused the Canadians from their dejection, and prevented his red allies from deserting him; but, in so doing, he brought upon himself an enemy who, as Charlevoix himself says, asked only to be let alone. If there was a political necessity for butchering women and children on the frontier of New England, it was a necessity created by the French themselves.
There was no such necessity. Massachusetts was 373 the only one of the New England colonies which took an aggressive part in the contest. Connecticut did little or nothing. Rhode Island was non-combatant through Quaker influence; and New Hampshire was too weak for offensive war. Massachusetts was in no condition to fight, nor was she impelled31 to do so by the home government. Canada was organized for war, and must fight at the bidding of the king, who made the war and paid for it. Massachusetts was organized for peace; and, if she chose an aggressive part, it was at her own risk and her own cost. She had had fighting enough already against infuriated savages33 far more numerous than the Iroquois, and poverty and political revolution made peace a necessity to her. If there was danger of another attack on Quebec, it was not from New England, but from Old; and no amount of frontier butchery could avert34 it.
Nor, except their inveterate35 habit of poaching on Acadian fisheries, had the people of New England provoked these barbarous attacks. They never even attempted to retaliate37 them, though the settlements of Acadia offered a safe and easy revenge. Once, it is true, they pillaged38 Beaubassin; but they killed nobody, though countless39 butcheries in settlements yet more defenceless were fresh in their memory. [2]
[2] The people of Beaubassin had taken an oath of allegiance to England in 1690, and pleaded it as a reason for exemption40 from plunder41; but it appears by French authorities that they had violated it (Observations sur les Depêches touchant l'Acadie, 1695), and their priest Baudoin had led a band of Micmacs to the attack of Wells (Villebon, Journal). When the "Bostonnais" captured Port Royal, they are described by the French as excessively irritated by the recent slaughter20 at Salmon Falls, yet the only revenge they took was plundering42 some of the inhabitants.
374 With New York, a colony separate in government and widely sundered43 in local position, the case was different. Its rulers had instigated44 the Iroquois to attack Canada, possibly before the declaration of war, and certainly after it; and they had no right to complain of reprisal45. Yet the frontier of New York was less frequently assailed46, because it was less exposed; while that of New England was drenched47 in blood, because it was open to attack, because the Abenakis were convenient instruments for attacking it, because the adhesion of these tribes was necessary to the maintenance of French power in Acadia, and because this adhesion could best be secured by inciting48 them to constant hostility49 against the English. They were not only needed as the barrier of Canada against New England, but the French commanders hoped, by means of their tomahawks, to drive the English beyond the Piscataqua, and secure the whole of Maine to the French crown.
Who were answerable for these offences against Christianity and civilization? First, the king; and, next, the governors and military officers who were charged with executing his orders, and who often executed them with needless barbarity. But a far different responsibility rests on the missionary51 priests, who hounded their converts on the track of innocent blood. The Acadian priests are not all open to this charge. Some of them are even accused of being too favorable to the English; while others gave themselves to their proper work, and neither abused their influence, nor perverted52 375 their teaching to political ends. The most prominent among the apostles of carnage, at this time, are the Jesuit Bigot on the Kennebec, and the seminary priest Thury on the Penobscot. There is little doubt that the latter instigated attacks on the English frontier before the war, and there is conclusive53 evidence that he had a hand in repeated forays after it began. Whether acting54 from fanaticism55, policy, or an odious56 compound of both, he was found so useful, that the minister Ponchartrain twice wrote him letters of commendation, praising him in the same breath for his care of the souls of the Indians and his zeal57 in exciting them to war. "There is no better man," says an Acadian official, "to prompt the savages to any enterprise." [3] The king was begged to reward him with money; and Ponchartrain wrote to the bishop58 of Quebec to increase his pay out of the allowance furnished by the government to the Acadian clergy59, because he, Thury, had persuaded the Abenakis to begin the war anew. [4]
[3] Tibièrge, Mémoire sur l'Acadie, 1695.
[4] "Les témoignages qu'on a rendu à Sa Majesté de l'affection et du zêle du Sr. de Thury, missionaire chez les Canibas (Abenakis), pour son service, et particulièrement dans l'engagement où il a mis les Sauvages de recommencer la guerre contre les Anglois, m'oblige de vous prier de luy faire une plus forte60 part sur les 1,500 livres de gratification que Sa Majesté accorde pour les ecclésiastiques de l'Acadie." Le Ministre à l'évesque de Québec, 16 Avril, 1695.
"Je suis bien aise de me servir de cette occasion pour vous dire61 que j'ay esté informé, non seulement de vostre zêle et de vostre application pour vostre mission, et du progrès qu'elle fait pour l'avancement de la religion avec les sauvages, mais encore de vos soins pour les maintenir dans le service de Sa Majesté et pour les encourager aux expeditions de guerre." Le Ministre à Thury, 23 Avril, 1697. The other letter to Thury, written two years before, is of the same tenor62.
376 The French missionaries63 are said to have made use of singular methods to excite their flocks against the heretics. The Abenaki chief Bomaseen, when a prisoner at Boston in 1696, declared that they told the Indians that Jesus Christ was a Frenchman, and his mother, the Virgin64, a French lady; that the English had murdered him, and that the best way to gain his favor was to revenge his death. [5]
[5] Mather, Magnalia, II. 629. Compare Dummer, Memorial, 1709, in Mass. Hist. Coll., 3 Ser., I., and the same writer's Letter to a Noble Lord concerning the Late Expedition to Canada, 1712. Dr. Charles T. Jackson, the geologist65, when engaged in the survey of Maine in 1836, mentions, as an example of the simplicity66 of the Acadians of Madawaska, that one of them asked him "if Bethlehem, where Christ was born, was not a town in France." First Report on the Geology of Maine, 72. Here, perhaps, is a tradition from early missionary teaching.
Whether or not these articles of faith formed a part of the teachings of Thury and his fellow-apostles, there is no doubt that it was a recognized part of their functions to keep their converts in hostility to the English, and that their credit with the civil powers depended on their success in doing so. The same holds true of the priests of the mission villages in Canada. They avoided all that might impair67 the warlike spirit of the neophyte68, and they were well aware that in savages the warlike spirit is mainly dependent on native ferocity. They taught temperance, conjugal69 fidelity70, devotion to the rites71 of their religion, and submission72 to the priest; but they left the savage32 a savage still. In spite of the remonstrances73 of the civil authorities, the mission Indian was separated as far as possible from intercourse74 with the French, and discouraged 377 from learning the French tongue. He wore a crucifix, hung wampum on the shrine75 of the Virgin, told his beads76, prayed three times a day, knelt for hours before the Host, invoked77 the saints, and confessed to the priest; but, with rare exceptions, he murdered, scalped, and tortured like his heathen countrymen. [6]
[6] The famous Ouréhaoué, who had been for years under the influence of the priests, and who, as Charlevoix says, died "un vrai Chrétien," being told on his death-bed how Christ was crucified by the Jews, exclaimed with fervor78: "Ah! why was not I there? I would have revenged him: I would have had their scalps." La Potherie, IV. 91. Charlevoix, after his fashion on such occasions, suppresses the revenge and the scalping, and instead makes the dying Christian50 say, "I would have prevented them from so treating my God."
The savage custom of forcing prisoners to run the gauntlet, and sometimes beating them to death as they did so, was continued at two, if not all, of the mission villages down to the end of the French domination. General Stark79 of the Revolution, when a young man, was subjected to this kind of torture at St. Francis, but saved himself by snatching a club from one of the savages, and knocking the rest to the right and left as he ran. The practice was common, and must have had the consent of the priests of the mission.
At the Sulpitian mission of the Mountain of Montreal, unlike the rest, the converts were taught to speak French and practise mechanical arts. The absence of such teaching in other missions was the subject of frequent complaint, not only from Frontenac, but from other officers. La Motte-Cadillac writes bitterly on the subject, and contrasts the conduct of the French priests with that of the English ministers, who have taught many Indians to read and write, and reward them for teaching others in turn, which they do, he says, with great success. Mémoire contenant une Description détaillée de l'Acadie, etc., 1693. In fact, Eliot and his co-workers took great pains in this respect. There were at this time thirty Indian churches in New England, according to the Diary of President Stiles, cited by Holmes.
The picture has another side, which must not pass unnoticed. Early in the war, the French of Canada began the merciful practice of buying English prisoners, and especially children, from their Indian allies. After the first fury of attack, many 378 lives were spared for the sake of this ransom80. Sometimes, but not always, the redeemed81 captives were made to work for their benefactors82. They were uniformly treated well, and often with such kindness that they would not be exchanged, and became Canadians by adoption83.
Villebon was still full of anxiety as to the adhesion of the Abenakis. Thury saw the danger still more clearly, and told Frontenac that their late attack at Oyster River was due more to levity84 than to any other cause; that they were greatly alarmed, wavering, half stupefied, afraid of the English, and distrustful of the French, whom they accused of using them as tools. [7] It was clear that something must be done; and nothing could answer the purpose so well as the capture of Pemaquid, that English stronghold which held them in constant menace, and at the same time tempted36 them by offers of goods at a low rate. To the capture of Pemaquid, therefore, the French government turned its thoughts.
[7] Thury à Frontenac, 11 Sept., 1694.
One Pascho Chubb, of Andover, commanded the post, with a garrison of ninety-five militia-men. Stoughton, governor of Massachusetts, had written to the Abenakis, upbraiding85 them for breaking the peace, and ordering them to bring in their prisoners without delay. The Indians of Bigot's mission, that is to say, Bigot in their name, retorted by a letter to the last degree haughty86 and abusive. Those of Thury's mission, however, were so anxious to recover their friends held in prison 379 at Boston that they came to Pemaquid, and opened a conference with Chubb. The French say that they meant only to deceive him. [8] This does not justify87 the Massachusetts officer, who, by an act of odious treachery, killed several of them, and captured the chief, Egeremet. Nor was this the only occasion on which the English had acted in bad faith. It was but playing into the hands of the French, who saw with delight that the folly88 of their enemies had aided their own intrigues. [9]
[8] Villebon, Journal, 1694-1696.
[9] N. Y. Col Docs., IX. 613, 616, 642, 643; La Potherie, III. 258; Calières au Ministre, 25 Oct., 1695; Rev28. John Pike to Governor and Council, 7 Jan., 1694 (1695), in Johnston, Hist. of Bristol and Bremen; Hutchinson, Hist. Mass., II. 81, 90.
Early in 1696, two ships of war, the "Envieux" and the "Profond," one commanded by Iberville and the other by Bonaventure, sailed from Rochefort to Quebec, where they took on board eighty troops and Canadians; then proceeded to Cape89 Breton, embarked90 thirty Micmac Indians, and steered91 for the St. John. Here they met two British frigates92 and a provincial94 tender belonging to Massachusetts. A fight ensued. The forces were very unequal. The "Newport," of twenty-four guns, was dismasted and taken; but her companion frigate93 along with the tender escaped in the fog. The French then anchored at the mouth of the St. John, where Villebon and the priest Simon were waiting for them, with fifty more Micmacs. Simon and the Indians went on board; and they all sailed for Pentegoet, where Villieu, with twenty-five soldiers, and Thury and Saint-Castin, with some 380 three hundred Abenakis, were ready to join them. After the usual feasting, these new allies paddled for Pemaquid; the ships followed; and on the next day, the fourteenth of August, they all reached their destination.
The fort of Pemaquid stood at the west side of the promontory95 of the same name, on a rocky point at the mouth of Pemaquid River. It was a quadrangle, with ramparts of rough stone, built at great pains and cost, but exposed to artillery96, and incapable97 of resisting heavy shot. The government of Massachusetts, with its usual military fatuity98, had placed it in the keeping of an unfit commander, and permitted some of the yeoman garrison to bring their wives and children to this dangerous and important post.
Saint-Castin and his Indians landed at New Harbor, half a league from the fort. Troops and cannon99 were sent ashore100; and, at five o'clock in the afternoon, Chubb was summoned to surrender. He replied that he would fight, "even if the sea were covered with French ships and the land with Indians." The firing then began; and the Indian marksmen, favored by the nature of the ground, ensconced themselves near the fort, well covered from its cannon. During the night, mortars101 and heavy ships' guns were landed, and by great exertion102 were got into position, the two priests working lustily with the rest. They opened fire at three o'clock on the next day. Saint-Castin had just before sent Chubb a letter, telling him that, if the garrison were obstinate103, they would get no quarter, 381 and would be butchered by the Indians. Close upon this message followed four or five bomb-shells. Chubb succumbed104 immediately, sounded a parley105, and gave up the fort, on condition that he and his men should be protected from the Indians, sent to Boston, and exchanged for French and Abenaki prisoners. They all marched out without arms; and Iberville, true to his pledge, sent them to an island in the bay, beyond the reach of his red allies. Villieu took possession of the fort, where an Indian prisoner was found in irons, half dead from long confinement106. This so enraged107 his countrymen that a massacre108 would infallibly have taken place but for the precaution of Iberville.
The cannon of Pemaquid were carried on board the ships, and the small arms and ammunition109 given to the Indians. Two days were spent in destroying the works, and then the victors withdrew in triumph. Disgraceful as was the prompt surrender of the fort, it may be doubted if, even with the best defence, it could have held out many days; for it had no casemates, and its occupants were defenceless against the explosion of shells. Chubb was arrested for cowardice110 on his return, and remained some months in prison. After his release, he returned to his family at Andover, twenty miles from Boston; and here, in the year following, he and his wife were killed by Indians, who seem to have pursued him to this apparently111 safe asylum112 to take revenge for his treachery toward their countrymen. [10]
[10] Baudoin, Journal d'un Voyage fait avec M. d'Iberville. Baudoin 382 was an Acadian priest, who accompanied the expedition, which he describes in detail. Relation de ce qui s'est passé, etc., 1695, 1696; Des Goutins au Ministre, 23 Sept., 1696; Hutchinson, Hist. Mass., II. 89; Mather, Magnalia, II. 633. A letter from Chubb, asking to be released from prison, is preserved in the archives of Massachusetts. I have examined the site of the fort, the remains113 of which are still distinct.
The people of Massachusetts, compelled by a royal order to build and maintain Pemaquid, had no love for it, and underrated its importance. Having been accustomed to spend their money as they themselves saw fit, they revolted at compulsion, though exercised for their good. Pemaquid was nevertheless of the utmost value for the preservation114 of their hold on Maine, and its conquest was a crowning triumph to the French.
The conquerors115 now projected a greater exploit. The Marquis de Nesmond, with a powerful squadron of fifteen ships, including some of the best in the royal navy, sailed for Newfoundland, with orders to defeat an English squadron supposed to be there, and then to proceed to the mouth of the Penobscot, where he was to be joined by the Abenaki warriors116 and fifteen hundred troops from Canada. The whole united force was then to fall upon Boston. The French had an exact knowledge of the place. Meneval, when a prisoner there, lodged117 in the house of John Nelson, had carefully examined it; and so also had the Chevalier d'Aux; while La Motte-Cadillac had reconnoitred the town and harbor before the war began. An accurate map of them was made for the use of the expedition, and the plan of operations was arranged with great care. Twelve hundred troops and Canadians 383 were to land with artillery at Dorchester, and march at once to force the barricade119 across the neck of the peninsula on which the town stood. At the same time, Saint-Castin was to land at Noddle's Island, with a troop of Canadians and all the Indians; pass over in canoes to Charlestown; and, after mastering it, cross to the north point of Boston, which would thus be attacked at both ends. During these movements, two hundred soldiers were to seize the battery on Castle Island, and then land in front of the town near Long Wharf120, under the guns of the fleet.
Boston had about seven thousand inhabitants, but, owing to the seafaring habits of the people, many of its best men were generally absent; and, in the belief of the French, its available force did not much exceed eight hundred. "There are no soldiers in the place," say the directions for attack, "at least there were none last September, except the garrison from Pemaquid, who do not deserve the name." An easy victory was expected. After Boston was taken, the land forces, French and Indian, were to march on Salem, and thence northward121 to Portsmouth, conquering as they went; while the ships followed along the coast to lend aid, when necessary. All captured places were to be completely destroyed after removing all valuable property. A portion of this plunder was to be abandoned to the officers and men, in order to encourage them, and the rest stowed in the ships for transportation to France. [11]
[11] Mémoire sur l'Entreprise de Boston, pour M. le Marquis de Nesmond, Versailles, 21 Avril, 1697; Instruction à M. le Marquis de Nesmond, même 384 date; Le Roy à Frontenac, même date; Le Roy à Frontenac et Champigny 27 Avril, 1697; Le Ministre à Nesmond, 28 Avril, 1697; Ibid., 15 Juin, 1697; Frontenac au Ministre, 15 Oct., 1697; Carte de Baston, par6 le Sr. Franquelin, 1697. This is the map made for the use of the expedition. A fac-simile of it is before me. The conquest of New York had originally formed part of the plan. Lagny au Ministre, 20 Jan., 1695. Even as it was, too much was attempted, and the scheme was fatally complicated by the operations at Newfoundland. Four years before, a projected attack on Quebec by a British fleet, under Admiral Wheeler, had come to nought122 from analogous123 causes.
The French spared no pains to gain accurate information as to the strength of the English settlements. Among other reports on this subject there is a curious Mémoire sur les établissements anglois au delà de Pemaquid, jusqu'a Baston. It was made just after the capture of Pemaquid, with a view to farther operations. Saco is described as a small fort a league above the mouth of the river Saco, with four cannon, but fit only to resist Indians. At Wells, it says, all the settlers have sought refuge in four petits forts, of which the largest holds perhaps 20 men, besides women and children. At York, all the people have gathered into one fort, where there are about 40 men. At Portsmouth there is a fort, of slight account, and about a hundred houses. This neighborhood, no doubt including Kittery, can furnish at most about 300 men. At the Isles124 of Shoals there are some 280 fishermen, who are absent, except on Sundays. In the same manner, estimates are made for every village and district as far as Boston.
Notice of the proposed expedition had reached Frontenac in the spring; and he began at once to collect men, canoes, and supplies for the long and arduous125 march to the rendezvous126. He saw clearly the uncertainties127 of the attempt; but, in spite of his seventy-seven years, he resolved to command the land force in person. He was ready in June, and waited only to hear from Nesmond. The summer passed; and it was not till September that a ship reached Quebec with a letter from the marquis, telling him that head winds had detained the fleet till only fifty days' provision remained, and it was too late for action. The enterprise had completely failed, and even at Newfoundland nothing was accomplished128. 385 It proved a positive advantage to New England, since a host of Indians, who would otherwise have been turned loose upon the borders, were gathered by Saint-Castin at the Penobscot to wait for the fleet, and kept there idle all summer.
It is needless to dwell farther on the war in Acadia. There were petty combats by land and sea; Villieu was captured and carried to Boston; a band of New England rustics129 made a futile130 attempt to dislodge Villebon from his fort at Naxouat; while, throughout the contest, rivalry131 and jealousy132 rankled133 among the French officials, who continually maligned134 each other in tell-tale letters to the court. Their hope that the Abenakis would force back the English boundary to the Piscataqua was never fulfilled. At Kittery, at Wells, and even among the ashes of York, the stubborn settlers held their ground, while war-parties prowled along the whole frontier, from the Kennebec to the Connecticut. A single incident will show the nature of the situation, and the qualities which it sometimes called forth135.
Early in the spring that followed the capture of Pemaquid, a band of Indians fell, after daybreak, on a number of farm-houses near the village of Haverhill. One of them belonged to a settler named Dustan, whose wife Hannah had borne a child a week before, and lay in the house, nursed by Mary Neff, one of her neighbors. Dustan had gone to his work in a neighboring field, taking with him his seven children, of whom the youngest was two years old. Hearing the noise of the attack, 386 he told them to run to the nearest fortified house, a mile or more distant, and, snatching up his gun, threw himself on one of his horses and galloped136 towards his own house to save his wife. It was too late: the Indians were already there. He now thought only of saving his children; and, keeping behind them as they ran, he fired on the pursuing savages, and held them at bay till he and his flock reached a place of safety. Meanwhile, the house was set on fire, and his wife and the nurse carried off. Her husband, no doubt, had given her up as lost, when, weeks after, she reappeared, accompanied by Mary Neff and a boy, and bringing ten Indian scalps. Her story was to the following effect.
The Indians had killed the new-born child by dashing it against a tree, after which the mother and the nurse were dragged into the forest, where they found a number of friends and neighbors, their fellows in misery137. Some of these were presently tomahawked, and the rest divided among their captors. Hannah Dustan and the nurse fell to the share of a family consisting of two warriors, three squaws, and seven children, who separated from the rest, and, hunting as they went, moved northward towards an Abenaki village, two hundred and fifty miles distant, probably that of the mission on the Chaudière. Every morning, noon, and evening, they told their beads, and repeated their prayers. An English boy, captured at Worcester, was also of the party. After a while, the Indians began to amuse themselves by telling the 387 women that, when they reached the village, they would be stripped, made to run the gauntlet, and severely138 beaten, according to custom.
Hannah Dustan now resolved on a desperate effort to escape, and Mary Neff and the boy agreed to join in it. They were in the depths of the forest, half way on their journey, and the Indians, who had no distrust of them, were all asleep about their camp fire, when, late in the night, the two women and the boy took each a hatchet139, and crouched140 silently by the bare heads of the unconscious savages. Then they all struck at once, with blows so rapid and true that ten of the twelve were killed before they were well awake. One old squaw sprang up wounded, and ran screeching141 into the forest, followed by a small boy whom they had purposely left unharmed. Hannah Dustan and her companions watched by the corpses142 till daylight; then the Amazon scalped them all, and the three made their way back to the settlements, with the trophies143 of their exploit. [12]
[12] This story is told by Mather, who had it from the women themselves, and by Niles, Hutchinson, and others. An entry in the contemporary journal of Rev. John Pike fully118 confirms it. The facts were notorious at the time. Hannah Dustan and her companions received a bounty144 of ￡50 for their ten scalps; and the governor of Maryland, hearing of what they had done, sent them a present.
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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motives
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motive
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miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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oyster
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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coup
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margin
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scattered
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impervious
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mutual
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isolated
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prodigious
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havoc
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dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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16
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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17
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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18
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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19
pouncing
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的现在分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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20
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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21
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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23
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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24
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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25
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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26
systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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27
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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28
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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29
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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30
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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31
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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33
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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34
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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35
inveterate
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| adj.积习已深的，根深蒂固的 | |
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36
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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37
retaliate
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|
| v.报复，反击 | |
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38
pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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40
exemption
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| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
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41
plunder
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|
| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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42
plundering
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 ) | |
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43
sundered
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| v.隔开，分开( sunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
instigated
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| v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
reprisal
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|
| n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠 | |
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46
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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47
drenched
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|
| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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48
inciting
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| 刺激的，煽动的 | |
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49
hostility
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|
| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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50
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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51
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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52
perverted
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|
| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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53
conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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54
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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55
fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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56
odious
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|
| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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57
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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58
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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59
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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60
forte
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| n.长处，擅长；adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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61
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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62
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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63
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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64
virgin
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|
| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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65
geologist
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| n.地质学家 | |
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66
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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67
impair
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| v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少 | |
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68
neophyte
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| n.新信徒；开始者 | |
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69
conjugal
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|
| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
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70
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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71
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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72
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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73
remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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74
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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75
shrine
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|
| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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76
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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77
invoked
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|
| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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78
fervor
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|
| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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79
stark
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|
| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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80
ransom
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|
| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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81
redeemed
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|
| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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82
benefactors
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|
| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
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83
adoption
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|
| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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84
levity
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|
| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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85
upbraiding
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|
| adj.& n.谴责（的）v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的现在分词 ) | |
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86
haughty
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|
| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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87
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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88
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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89
cape
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|
| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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90
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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91
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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92
frigates
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| n.快速军舰( frigate的名词复数 ) | |
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93
frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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94
provincial
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|
| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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95
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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96
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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97
incapable
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|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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98
fatuity
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| n.愚蠢，愚昧 | |
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99
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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100
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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101
mortars
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| n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵 | |
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102
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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103
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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104
succumbed
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|
| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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105
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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106
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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107
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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108
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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109
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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110
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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111
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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112
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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113
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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114
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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115
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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116
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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117
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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118
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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119
barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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120
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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121
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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122
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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123
analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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124
isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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125
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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126
rendezvous
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|
| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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127
uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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128
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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129
rustics
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| n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 )；粗野的；不雅的；用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
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130
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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131
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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132
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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133
rankled
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| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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134
maligned
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| vt.污蔑，诽谤（malign的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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135
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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136
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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137
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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138
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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139
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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140
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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141
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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142
corpses
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|
| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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143
trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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