Y. Col.
Docs_., IX. 447.] All were gathered on the low point of land that
separates Irondequoit Bay from Lake Ontario. "Never," says an
eye-witness, "had Canada seen such a sight; and never, perhaps, will
she see such a sight again. Here was the camp of the regulars from
France, with the general's head-quarters; the camp of the four
battalions of Canadian militia, commanded by the _noblesse_ of the
country; the camp of the Christian Indians; and, farther on, a swarm
of savages of every nation. Their features were different, and so were
their manners, their weapons, their decorations, and their dances.
They sang and whooped and harangued in every accent and tongue. Most
of them wore nothing but horns on their heads, and the tails of beasts
behind their backs. Their faces were painted red or green, with black
or white spots; their ears and noses were hung with ornaments of iron;
and their naked bodies were daubed with figures of various sorts of
animals." [Footnote: The first part of the extract is from Belmont;
the second, from Saint-Vallier.]
These were the allies from the upper lakes. The enemy, meanwhile, had
taken alarm. Just after the army arrived, three Seneca scouts called
from the edge of the woods, and demanded what they meant to do.
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