“Chief,” he said, “and wise men of a brave nation, you have conferred upon us a trust of which we are proud.  To Owato Wanisha, perhaps, it was due, for he is mighty in his tribe; but I and the Shakanah are no chiefs.  We will not decline your favour, but we must deserve it.  The young beaver will remain in the village, to learn the wisdom of your old men, but the eagle and the bear must and will accompany you in your expedition.  You have given them brave warriors, who would scorn to remain at home; we will follow you.”

This proposition was received with flattering acclamations, and the gallant army soon afterwards left the village on its mission of revenge.

The Cayugas were, before that expedition, a powerful tribe, about whom little or nothing had ever been written or known.  In their customs and manners of living they resemble in every way the Club Indians of the Colorado, who were destroyed by the small-pox.  They led a wandering prairie life, but generally were too cowardly to fight well, and too inexpert in hunting to surround themselves with comforts, even in the midst of plenty.  Like the Clubs, they are cannibals, though, I suspect, they would not eat a white man.  They have but few horses, and these only when they could be procured by stealth, for, almost always starving, they could not afford to breed them, always eating the colts before they could be useful.

Their grounds lie in the vicinity of the great fork of the Rio Puerco, by lat. 35 degrees and long. 105 degrees from Greenwich.  The whole nation do not possess half-a-dozen of rifles, most all of them being armed with clubs, bows, and arrows.  Some old Comanches have assured me that the Cayuga country abounds with fine gold.

While I was with the Comanches, waiting the return of the expedition, I had an accident which nearly cost me my life.  Having learned that there were many fine basses to be fished in a stream some twenty miles off, I started on horseback, with the view of passing the night there.  I took with me a buffalo-hide, a blanket, and a tin cup, and two hours before sunset I arrived at the spot.

As the weather had been dry for some time, I could not pick any worms, so I thought of killing some bird or other small animal, whose flesh would answer for bait.  Not falling in with any birds, I determined to seek for a rabbit or a frog.  To save time, I lighted a fire, put my water to boil, spread my hide and blanket, arranged my saddle for a pillow, and then went in search of bait, and sassafras to make tea with.

While looking for sassafras, I perceived a nest upon a small oak near to the stream.  I climbed to take the young ones, obtained two, which I put in my round jacket, and looked about me to see where I should jump upon the ground.  After much turning about, I suspended myself by the hands from a hanging branch, and allowed myself to drop down.  My left foot fell flat, but under the soft sole of my right mocassin I felt something alive, heaving or rolling.  At a glance, I perceived that my foot was on the body of a large rattle-snake, with his head just forcing itself from under my heel.