]
This was the place to which Rogers had requested that provisions might
be sent; and the hope of finding them there had been the breath of life
to the famished wayfarers. To their horror, the place was a solitude.
There were fires still burning, but those who made them were gone.
Amherst had sent Lieutenant Stephen up the river from Charlestown with
an abundant supply of food; but finding nobody at the Amonoosuc, he had
waited there two days, and then returned, carrying the provisions back
with him; for which outrageous conduct he was expelled from the service.
"It is hardly possible," says Rogers, "to describe our grief and
consternation." Some gave themselves up to despair. Few but their
indomitable chief had strength to go father. There was scarcely any
game, and the barren wilderness yielded no sustenance but a few lily
bulbs and the tubers of the climbing plant called in New England the
ground-nut. Leaving his party to these miserable resources, and
promising to send then relief within ten days, Rogers made a raft of dry
pine logs, and drifted on it down the stream, with Captain Ogden, a
ranger, and one of the captive Indian boys. They were stopped on the
second day by rapids, and gained the shore with difficulty. At the foot
of the rapids, while Ogden and the ranger went in search of squirrels,
Rogers set himself to making another raft; and having no strength to use
the axe, he burned down the trees, which he then divided into logs by
the same process.
Pages:
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813