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Show TRAVELS TilROUGfi UPPER CANADA: i\.n American ofJ1 cc r, who, Juring the vvar with Great n ~-i hlin, had been fi nt to one of the Indian nations rdident on the wcflern fronti er of the States, to pe rfnade them to remain neuter in the cont~~' i r~fo n lc_d me, that whilfi: be remained amon <J fl: them fome agents arnvc I Jll th ·1r " ilbo-e to negoci.ttl.., i( p :J{li blc, fu r the releail: of lome 1 l ' ' ·u fL v s_ whom th ... y had carried off from the American icttl..;mcnt . One ot tbe fe negroes, a rcmarbbly tall hand[ome fellow, bad been given to an Indian \'l'oma.n f fume con[equence in the nation, in the manm:r in which prifoncrs " n.: u llially difpolcd of amongfl: them. Appl ic.ttwn was made to her fo r bis ran fom. She li !1ened quietly to what was iaid; rcfol v d at the fame time, however, that the fellow 1hould not have his liberty, {he ficpped afiC::e into er cabin, and having brought out a large knife, walked up to her Dave, and without more ado plunged it .into his bowels: " Now," fays D. e, addreffing herfdf coolly to the agents; " now I give you leave to take away your negro." The p or creature that had been fi:abbed fell to the ground, and by writhing about in the grcatefl: agoni , until one of the warriors took compaffion on him, and put an end to his mifery by a blow of a tomahawk. At Detroit, Niagara, and fome other places in Upper Canada, a few negroes are !lill held in bondage. Two of thefc hap] fs people contrived, whiHl: we remained at Malden, to make their efcapc fi-om Detroit, by fi:caling a boat. and proceeding in the night down the river. As the wind would not permit them to crofs the lake, it was conjectured that they would be induced to oafi: along the ihorc until they reached a place of fafety ; in hopes, therefore, of being able to recover them, the proprietor came down to Malden, and there procured two trufl:y Indians to go in quefi: of them. The Indians, having received a defcription of their perfons, fct out; but had fcarcely proceeded an hundred yards, when one of them, who could fpeak a few words of Englifh, returned, to afl· the proprietor if he would give him pcrmiffion to fcalp the negroes if they were at all refractory, or refufed corning. His requ fi: was peremptorily rcfufed, for it was well known that, had it been granted, he would have at once killed them to avoid the trouble of bringing them back. u Well," fays he, "if you will not let me fcalp both, you won't be " angry R E M A R K S 0 N T H E I N D I A N S. " angry with me, I hope, if I fcalp one." H WJS told in anfwer, that he mufl: bring them both back alive. Thi circumfi:ance appear d to mortify him extremely, and he was beginning to hdi.tate about going, when~ forry am I to fay, the proprietor, fearful left the f~llows 01ould efcape from him, gave his a{l"ent to the In !ian's requefl, but at the fame time he begged that he would not deO:roy them if he could ponibly avoid it. WI at the refnlt was I JPver learned; but from the apparent fcttisfacbon with v.hich the Indian ft£ out after he had obtaint:d his Jreadful permifi ion, th ere was evc:ry reafon to imagine that one of the negroes at leafl: would be facrifi cd. This indifference in the mind of the Indians about taking a way the life of a fellow creature, m1kes them appear, it mu!l: be confelfcd, in a very unami·tblc point of view. I fear alfo, that in the opinion of m1ny people, all the good qualities which they pofftfs, would but ill atone for their revcn n·cful difpofition, and for the crneltics which, it is well known, they fomctimes inflict upon the prifoners who have fallen .into their po;ver in battle. Great pains have been taken, both by the French and Engli01 mifiionaries, to reprcfent to them the infamy f torturing their prifoners; 110r have thefc pains been befi:owed in vain; for though in fume r ·cent jnfianccs it has appeared that they frill retain a fondnefs for this horrid practice, yet I will venture, from what I have heard, to affcrt, that of late years not one prifoner has been put to the torture, where twenty would have been a hundred years ago. Of the prifoners that fell into their hands on St. Clair's defeat, I could not learn, although I made il:riCl: enqlliries on the fubj cr, that a fingle man had been f.1.fi:cned to the flake. As foon as the defeat was known, rewards were held out by the Br'tifh ofn ers, and others that had influence over them, to brinoin their prifoners nlive, and the gr ater part of them were dc.:l.ivered up unhurt; but to irradicate wholly from tl eir br a{b the fpirit of revenge ha been fou nd impoilible. You will be CJJ abled to form a tolerable idea of the httlc good effeCt which education has over their minds in this refpect, from the following anecdotes of Captain Jofeph Brandt, a war chief of the Mohawk nation. This |