could with propriety be faid to occupy either of them? We have had a very fickly time-owing I believe to the extravagant weather we have had."-" A one horsed chair, which "ply about this town, like hackney coaches and my fer"vant made two, &c. &c."

Having produced a fufficient number of inftances to juftify our cenfure, we drop the difagreeable tafk; and conclude with advifing our author, from this time forward, not

66 to

daub a fheet of paper over with a black fluid called ink,” till he has firft of all ferioufly confidered both what and how he ought to write.

ART. X. A Tour in the United States of America. Containing an Account of the prefent Situation of that Country; the Population, Agriculture, Commerce, Cuftoms, and Manners of the Inhabitants; Anecdotes of several Members of the Congress, and General Officers in the American Army; and many other very fingular and interesting Occurrences. With a Defcription of the Indian Nations, the general Face of the Country, Mountains, Forefts, Rivers, and the most beautiful, grand, and picturefque Views throughout that vaft Continent. Likewife Improvements in Husbandry, that may be adopted with great Advantage in Europe. By. J. F. D. Smith, Efq. 2 Vols. 8vo. 10s. 6d. Boards. Robinfon. London.

THE

(Concluded from our Review for November laft.)

HE Choctaws are mentioned by the author as a ftrong and powerful nation, but not addicted to war. They are named Flat-heads from having their foreheads flattened in their infancy by a fmall bag of fand compreffed on their foreheads while they are at the breaft. This gives them a more difagreeable appearance and hideous afpect than any other nation, and they fuffer more of their hair to remain on their heads than any other Indians do. The women commonly wear all their hair without pulling any of it out.

In defcribing the colony of Virginia, he takes notice of the college at Williamsburgh. A Mr. James Blair, a Scots clergyman founded it, by a voluntary fubfcription, towards which King William and Queen Mary contributed two thousand pounds in money and twenty thousand acres of land, with authority to purchase and hold lands to the annual value of two thoufand pounds, and likewife granted it a duty of one penny per pound on all tobacco exported from Virginia to the other plantations. Mr. Blair was the first prefident, and continued in that fituation near fifty years.

The Hon. Mr. Boyle made a very handfome donation to this college for the purpose of educating Indian Children; but this part of the inftitution has by no means fucceeded. Some experiments have evinced that thiofe Indians who have

4

been

been educated at this college, and thereby brought to polished and civilized manners, have always embraced the first opportunity of returning to their wild habits and uninformed ftate, forgetting and totally lofing every trace of their civilization and of all they had been taught. Yet notwithstanding this, their geniufes are found to be bright, and they receive any branch of education with great facility.

6

In croffing the river Potomack from Maryland into Virginia, the author was not a little diverted at a reply made by the owner of the ferry to a perfon enquiring after the health of one of his nearest relations. Sir, (faid he) the intense frigidity of the circumambient atmosphere had fo congealed the pellucid aqueous fluid of the enormous river Potomack, that with the most eminent and fuperlative reluctance, I was conftrained to procraftinate my premeditated egreffion to the palatinate province of Maryland for the medical, chemical, and galenical coadjuvancy and co-operation of a diftinguished fanative fon of Aefculapius, until the peccant deleterious matter of the Athritis had pervaded the cranium, into which it had afcended and penetrated, from the inferior pedestrial major digit of my paternal relative in confanguinity, whereby his morbofity was magnified fo exorbitantly as to exhibit an abfolute extinguishment of vivification. The fituations and gentlemen's feats on the Potomack are beyond description beautiful. Every advan-' tage, every elegance, every charm, that bountiful nature can beftow, is heaped with liberality and even profufion on the delightful banks of this moft noble and grand river. All the: defirable variety of land and water, woods and lawns, hills and dales, tremenduous cliffs and lovely vallies, wild romantic precipices, and sweet meandring ftreams adorned with rich and delightful meadows; in fhort all the elegance, beauty and grandeur that can be conceived in perspective, are here united, to feast the fight and foul of those who are capable of enjoying the luxurious and fumptuous banquet.

The account of an engagement betwixt the Indians and regulars upon the breaking out of the rebellion is fingular and deferves attention.

The Shawnefe, joined by the Delawares, the Mingos, and. fome other warriours of different nations, to the number of near nine hundred, had advanced from the Shawncfe town, which is fixty miles up the Siotto River, had marched no less than feventyfive miles in two days, had croffed the large river Ohio, which is by far more confiderable than the Danube, without either fhips, boats, canoes, or pontoons, and without implements or time for making. any, upon rafts, which they formed inftantly from the trees growing on the banks by means only of their tomahawks.

All this they performed with the utmoft fecrecy, in the face of

one

one fuperior enemy in their front, and nearly in the face of another equal to them in their rear; and approached within one mile indeed little more than half a mile of our camp without being discovered. All this they did without the affiitance of cannon or cavalry.

This action commenced entirely by accident, as I have already obferved, which was a fortunate circumstance for us, as they intended to furprife us in our camp; and had they been able to have done fo, it must certainly have proved fatal, confidering our great deficiency in point of discipline and precaution, notwithstanding our fuperiority in numbers, for there might be more than twelve hundred men under Colonel Lewis's command.

Early that morning, viz. on the tenth of October, fome of our men having met a fev Indians who had alfo come to that fpring (formerly mentioned) for water, immediately fired upon them, and they returned it. Each fide was reinforced, until the action became very fevere and almoft general, and was maintained with great obsti macy by both armies during the principal part of the day; but their manner of fighting was totally different from any thing of the kind in Europe, and it was that alone enabled both fides to continue the engagement for fuch a length of time, without one or both being entirely cut off.

Every man ran to a tree for cover, from behind which he fired upon the enemy, whenever he could discover any of them in a vulė nerable fituation; this care in firing was however more the practice of the Indians, who feldom threw away any of their fhot promifcuoufly, and did all in their power to fire with effect. Our men alfo took the fame precautions to cover themselves from the mufquetry of the enemy, but were by no means as frugal of powder and ball, which they wafted without much regard to aim.

In this manner of fighting, want of fubordination is of lefs prejudice than in any other, and officers are of lefs fervice and confequence; as here appeared to be no manœuvres, no turning of flanks, no charging with bayonets, for nothing was feen or heard but a perpetual popping from all quarters; and one fide could not attempt to turn the flank of the other, because they could immediately extend it as far as that of the firft.

In this fituation, with little advantage on either fide, Major Field, Major Lewis, and I (having been clofe together all day), difcovered a ravine, or large hollow way, in the rear of the enemy, which was full of trees and thick underwood, and feemed to be unfecured.

It immediately occurred to us that if we could be able to march a fmall detachment by a circuitous route to feize on that ravine, and under cover of it attack them fuddenly in the rear, it must decide the fate of the day in our favour.

Upon this Major Lewis and I went and defired Colonel Lewis, (who, for what reafon I am ignorant, had not left the camp all day,) to furnifh us with this detachment; and it was with fome difficulty we obtained it, as he appeared apprehenfive of the camp being left without a fufficient guard.

For this purpofe we loft no time in marching to get in the rear of the enemy, intending to make a circuit of fome miles to accom

plish

plish it undiscovered, and therefore we had to pass a ravine, in the rear of our own camp, upon the left.

We ordered a ferjeant and two men to pass this hollow place first, and to examine it as they paffed: they foon went over, and beckoned to us that all was fafe; when Major Lewis advancing boldly forward was fhot dead by five Indians, who lay there in ambush. to prevent our fending any detachments that way, and fuffered the firft party to pass unmolested, judging rightly that they would be of inferior confequence and eftimation to those that followed after. But we inftantly fell upon them, and pursued them fo closely, that not a man of them efcaped to alarm the enemy, which would have fruftrated the whole defign. After leaving a corporal and fome men with Major Lewis's body, I marched on with all expedition, and gained the ravine without noise or being discovered, from whence I immediately commenced a fudden and very heavy fire upon the enemy's left flank and rear, who were all open and quite exposed to this attack

• Their lofs was confiderable, and they inftantly gave way, but with a good countenance, firing as they retreated from tree to tree, and not without carrying off all their wounded, and a great part of their dead alfo.'

The author proceeds to ftate the breaking out of the rebellion and the decided part, he himself had taken against the measures of the mal-contents, the hardships he underwent, and the loffes he fuftained in fupport of his principles,' and the miferies to which he was often reduced, in effecting his escape from the rebels. The treachery of pretended friends' in times of diftrefs agitated and haraffed his foul, and almost drove him to diftraction. An inftance of this occurs in our author's account of his rout from Frederick Town to Pittfburgh. No event of my life ever fhocked me more than the discovery of Barclay's treachery, when I found he was certainly gone. A multitude of fuspicions crowded in my mind, and a thousand fears alarmed me. Every moment I expected to be feized in confequence of information against me; and I diftrufted every perfon I faw or met. My mind diftracted, my body enfeebled, emaciated and ⚫ tormented with excruciating pain, in an enemy's country,' deftitute of money or refource, and without a fingle friend, I was in a condition truly to be commiferated, and not to be excelled in diftrefs. This was a trial the most arduous and fevere I ever met with but ftill my refolution did not forfake me, and I determined to proceed notwithstanding every difficulty and danger.' A party who had been dispatched in queft of him foon came up. < They fet

'

me (fays he) upon a pack-horse, on a wooden pack-faddle; they tied my arms behind me, and my legs under the 'horfe's belly; they took off the horfe's bridle and fastened a great bell round his neck; and in that condition they

• drove

• drove the horse before them, with me upon his back, along narrow flippery ways covered with ice, and over all the dreadful horrid precipices of the Allegany and Blue Mountains, for the space of three hundred miles.' In this manner I was carried to Frederick Town, and there dragged, bound with cords, before the committee, which confifted of a taylor, a leather-breeches-maker, a fhoe-maker, a gingerbread-baker, a butcher, and two pub⚫licans.'

The greatest part of them being Germans, I really underwent a most curious examination, nearly to the following effect. "Got tamn you" (fays one) "how darfht you make an exfbkape from difh bonorablb Committifb?" "For flucht der dyvel (fays another) "How can you ftand sho fotyff for King Shorth against dish koontry?" "Sacramanter (roars out another) Dish Committifh will make Shorfh knoa how to behave himself." "By Goat (bawls the butcher). Ich would kill all the Enklish tives, as foon as Ich would kill von ox, or

von cow.

་

When at Newport (the author adds) there happened an inftance of favage brutality, that the greateft barbarians would blush to be guilty of. There was a friendless, unfortunate English fervant girl at the house where we were confined, who, greatly fhocked at feeing us in irons, and being well affected to her king and country, happened to drop fome expreffions that betrayed those fentiments: this poor friendlef's girl, for this crime alone, after being feverely beaten, both by her mafter and mistress, was turned out of doors in the street at midnight, in a degree of cold not to be conceived in England, and being feized upon by our ruffian guard, was dragged into their guard-room, where fhe was forcibly abufed by feventeen of the villains in the most grofs, brutal, and injurious manner poffible.' What follows is a general account of the various calamities to which our Author was obliged to submit, in dungeons, in prifans, and in chains,

As a writer our author has no claim to merit. The following fhort paragraph may be given as a fpecimen of his grammatical inaccuracy.

From the effect of these most violent and tremendous hurricanes and tornadoes, which being fometimes partial, frequently move in ftrange fantastic directions, and from the irrefiftible force of the wind, and the vast deluges and innundations of water that generally accompany them, all the appearances may be readily accounted for in a common and natural way, which, however, have lately given fcope to an ingenious, celebrated, and elegant author's (Dr. Dunbar) and others of lefs note (Mr. Carver, &c.) vague imaginations ; hazarding their fanciful and wild conjectures of fome of thefe being veftiges of military works, erected many ages paft by a people then' converfant in that fcience, but whofe defcendants, by the mere dint of

practice