The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1840-12-09


Igpvenor to return, as they would certainly
be massacred if they proceeded.
! Duvalrepeated his determination to go
on, but advised the other TO return, lest
his pale face should .betray fear To the H.
dians. and they might take advantage Of
it. Theinterpreter replied that he would
rather die thousand deaths, than haveil
said he had deserted his leader when in
peril.
Duval then told him he must translate
faithfully all that he should say to the In
dians, without softening word. The in
terpreter pr omised faithfully to do SO, ad-
ding that he well knew. when they were
once in the town, nothing but boldness
could save them. !.
They now rode into the village, and
advanced to the council house. This was
rather group Of four houses forming
square, in the centre Of which was great
council fire. The houses were open in
front, toward the fire, and closed in the
rear. At the corner of the square, there
was an interval between the houses, for
ingress and egress. In these houses sat
the, old men and the chiefs; the young
men gathered round the fire. Ncams .hla1
presided at the council, elevated on a.
higher seat than the rest. .ae ~
Governor Duval entered by one of the
the corner Intervals, and rode boldly into
the centre of the square. The young
men made way for him; an old man who
was speaking, paused in the midst of his
harrangue: In an instant thirty or forty
rifles were cooked and Ievelled. Never
had Duval heard so loud click Of trig-
gers; il scanned to strike on his hearl.-
lie gave one glance at the Indians, and
turned off with all air of contempt He
did not dare, he says, to look again, lest
it might effect his nerves, and on the firm
ness of his nerves every thing depended.
The chief thew up his arm. The rifles
were lowered. Duval breathed more free
ly; he felt disposed to leap from his horse,
but restrained himself land dismounted
leisurely. He then walked deliberately
up to Neama,hla, and demandedin an au-
thoritive tone, what were his motives for
holding that council. The moment he
made this demand, the orator sal down.!
The chief made 40 reply, but hung his
head in apparent confusion, After mo-
menl's pause, Duval proceeded
" am well aware Of the meaning Of
this war council, and deem~it my duty 10
warn you against prosecuting the schemes
you have been devising. If single hair
of white man in this: country fallsto the
ground, will hang You and your chiefs
on the trees around the council house!-
You cannotpretend to withstandthe' pow7i
er of the white men. You are in the
palm Of the hand of your Great Father at
Washington, who can crush you likefan
egg shell!-You may kill me: amibdt
one man; but recollec!, white men are nu-
merous as the leaves on the trees. Re-
member the fate Of your warriors whose
bones are whitening on batlle!felds. Re-
/ member your wives and children who per-
ished in swamps. Do you want to pro.
woke hostilities! Another war with The
white men, and there will not be a Semi
mole left to tell the story of his race"
Seeing the effect of bis words, he con-
cluded BY appointing day for to meet him
at ST. Marks, and give an account Of their
conduct. He then rode of, without giv-'|
ling them time to recover from their sur
prise. That night he rode 40 miles to
Apalaclicola rieer, to the tribe Of the
same name, who were in feud with thei
fSeminoles. They promptly put two hnn-
dred and fifty warriors at his disposal
whom he ordered to be at st. Marks at the
appointed day. He sent out runners also,
and mustered one hundred of the militia
to repair to the same place, together with
number of regulars from the army. All
his arrangements were successful. ;,
i Having taken these measures, be turned
TO Tallahassee, to the neighbourhood OF
the conspirators, to show that he was not
1 afraid. Here he ascertained, through
Yellow Hair, that nine towns were disaf-
fected, and had been concerned in the
conspiracy. He was careful to inform
himself, from the same source, Of the
names of the warriors in each of those
towns who were most popular, though
poor, and destitute of rank and command.
When the appointed day was at hand
for the meeting at ST. Marks, Governor Du-
val sci off with Neamathla, who was at the
head of eight or nine hundred warriors
but who feared to venture into the fort
without him. As they entered the fort
and saw troops and militia drawn up there,
and force Of Apalachicola soldiers sta
tl, x,t.ar