"When a company of Indians are moving together on the lake, as it is at this time of the year often dangerous sailing, the old men hold a council; and when they agree to embark, every one is engaged immediately in making ready, without offering one word against the measure, though the lake may be boisterous and horrid. One morning, though the wind appeared to me to be as high as in days past, the billows raging, yet the call was given yohohyohoh, which was quickly answered by all-ooh-ooh, which signifies agreed. We were all instantly engaged in preparing to start, and had considerable difficulties in embarking.

"As soon as we got into our canoes we fell to paddling with all our might, making out from the shore. Though these sort of canoes ride waves beyond what could be expected, yet the water several times dashed into them. When we got out about half a mile from shore, we hoisted sail, and as it was nearly a west wind, we then seemed to ride the waves with ease, and went on at a rapid rate. We then all laid down our paddles, excepting one that steered, and there was no water dashed into our canoes until we came near the shore again. We sailed about sixty miles that day and encamped some time before night.

"The next day we again embarked and went on very well for some time; but the lake being boisterous and the wind not fair, we were obliged to make to shore, which we accomplished with hard work and some difficulty in landing. The next morning a council was held by the old men.

"As we had this day to pass by a long precipice of rocks on the shore about nine miles, which rendered it impossible for us to land, though the wind was high and the lake rough, yet, as it was fair, we were all ordered to embark. We wrought ourselves out from the shore and hoisted sail (what

we used in place of sail cloth were our tent-mats, which answered the purpose very well) and went on for some time with a fair wind, until we were opposite to the precipice, and then it turned towards the shore, and we began to fear we should be cast upon the rocks. Two of the canoes were considerably farther out from the rocks than the canoe I was in. Those who were farthest out in the lake did not let down their sails until they had passed the precipice; but as we were nearer the rock, we were obliged to lower our sails and paddle with all our might. With much difficulty we cleared ourselves of the rock and landed. As the other canoes had landed before us, there were immediately runners sent off to see if we were all safely landed.

"This night the wind fell, and the next morning the lake was tolerably calm, and we embarked without difficulty, and paddled along near the shore, until we came to the mouth of the Cayahaga, which empties into Lake Erie on the south. side betwixt Canesadooharie and Presque Isle.

"We turned up Cayahaga and encamped, where we staid and hunted for several days; and so we kept moving and hunting until we came to the forks of Cayahaga.

"This is a very gentle river, and but few ripples, or swift running places, from the mouth to the forks. Deer here were tolerably plenty, large and fat; but bear and other game scarce. The upland is hilly, and principally second and third rate land; the timber chiefly black oak, white oak, hickory, dog-wood, &c. The bottoms are rich and large, and the timber is walnut, locust, mulberry, sugar-tree, red haw, black haw, wild apple-trees, &c. The west branch of this river interlocks with the east branch of Muskingum, and the east branch with the Big Beaver creek that empties into the Ohio about thirty miles below Pittsburgh.

"From the forks of Cayahaga to the east branch of Muskingum, there is a carrying place, where the Indians carry their canoes, &c., from the waters of Lake Erie into the waters of the Ohio.

"From the forks, I went over with some hunters to the east branch of Muskingum, where they killed several deer, a number of beavers, and returned heavy laden with skins and meat, which we carried on our backs, as we had no horses.

"The land here is chiefly second and third rate, and the timber chiefly oak and hickory. A little above the forks, on the east branch of Cayahaga, are considerable rapids, very rocky for some distance, but no perpendicular falls."

From the east branch of the Muskingum, the party went forty miles northeast to Beaver creek, "near a little lake or pond which is about two miles long and one broad, and a remarkable place for beaver." After various adventures in pursuit of beaver and other game, they went in February, 1757, to the Big Beaver, and in March returned to the forks of Cuyahoga. Here occurred a lesson upon profane swearing, which is not unworthy of repetition:

"I remember that Tecaughretanego, when something displeased him, said 'God damn it.' I asked him if he knew what he then said? He said he did, and mentioned one of their degrading expressions, which he supposed to be the meaning, or something like the meaning of what he had said. I told him that it did not bear the least resemblance to it; that what he had said was calling upon the Great Spirit to punish the object he was displeased with. He stood for some time amazed, and then said, if this be the meaning of these words, what sort of people are the whites? When the traders were among us, these words seemed to be intermixed

with all their discourse.

He told me to reconsider what I

had said, for he thought I must be mistaken in my definition; if I was not mistaken, he said the traders applied these words not only wickedly, but oftentimes very foolishly, and contrary to sense or reason. He said he remembered once of a trader's accidentally breaking his gun lock, and on that occasion calling out aloud, 'God damn it'-surely, said he, the gun lock was not an object worthy of punishment for Owananeeyo, or the Great Spirit; he also observed the traders often used this expression when they were in a good humor and not displeased with any thing. I acknowledged that the traders used this expression very often, in a most irrational, inconsistent and impious manner; yet I still asserted that I had given the true meaning of these words. He replied, if so, the traders are as bad as Oonasharoona, or the underground inhabitants, which is the name they give to devils, as they entertain a notion that their place of residence is under the earth."

Making a "large chestnut canoe," the party "embarked," had an agreeable passage down the Cuyahoga and along the south side of Lake Erie, until they passed the mouth of Sandusky; then the wind arose, and they put in at the mouth of the Miami of the Lake, at Cedar Point, and sailed thence in a few days for Detroit. After remaining in the Wyandot and Ottawa villages opposite Fort Detroit until November, a number of families prepared for their winter hunt, and agreed to cross the lake together. Here occurs a description of the Island Region of Lake Erie :

"We encamped at the mouth of the river the first night, and a council was held whether we should cross through by the three islands, [meaning, of course, East Sister, Middle Sister and West Sister,] or coast round the lake. These

islands lie in a line across the lake, and are just in sight of each other. Some of the Wyandots or Ottawas frequently make their winter hunt on these islands; though excepting wild fowl and fish, there is scarcely any game here but raccoons, which are amazingly plenty and exceedingly large and fat, as they feed upon the wild rice, which grows in abundance in wet places round these islands. It is said that each hunter, in one winter, will catch one thousand raccoons.

"It is a received opinion among the Indians, that the snakes and raccoons are transmigratory, and that a great many of the snakes turn raccoons every fall, and the raccoons snakes every spring. This notion is founded on observations made on the snakes and raccoons in this island.

"As the raccoons here lodge in rocks, the trappers make their wooden traps at the mouth of the holes; and as they go daily to look at their traps, in the winter season they commonly find them filled with raccoons; but in the spring, or when the frost is out of the ground, they say they find their traps filled with large rattle-snakes; and therefore conclude that the raccoons are transformed. They also say that the reason why they are so plenty in the winter, is, every fall the snakes turn raccoons again.

"I told them that though I had never landed on any of these islands, yet from the numerous accounts I had received, I believed that both snakes and raccoons were plenty there; but no doubt they all remained there both summer and winter, only the snakes were not to be seen in the latter; yet I did not believe that they were transmigratory. These islands are but seldom visited, because early in the spring and late in the fall it is dangerous sailing in their bark canoes; and in the summer they are so infested with various kinds of serpents (but chiefly rattle-snakes) that it is dangerous landing.