into the tent, and passed over one of his legs, undiscovered. Without,
all was still and quiet, except the gentle murmur of the river, at the
rapids about a mile below. At this moment, the Indians softly
approached the door of his tent and slightly removing the curtain,
contemplated the venerable man, too deeply engaged in the subject of
his thoughts to notice either their approach, or the snake which lay
before him. At a sight like this, even the heart of the savages shrunk
from the idea of committing so horrid an act; and, quitting the spot,
they hastily returned to the town, and informed their companions, that
the Great Spirit protected the white man, for they had found him with
no door but a blanket, and had seen a large rattlesnake crawl over his
legs without attempting to injure him. This circumstance, together with
the arrival soon afterwards of Conrad Weizer, the interpreter, procured
the count the friendship of the Indians, and probably induced some of
them to embrace Christianity."

When the war between the French and the English occurred in 1754, the
Shawanoes on the Ohio took sides with the former; but the appeal to
those residing at Wyoming to do the same, was ineffectual. The
influence of the count's missionary efforts had made them averse to
war. But an event which happened soon afterward, disturbed the peace of
their settlement, and finally led to their removal from the valley.
Occasional difficulties of a transient nature, had arisen between the
Delawares and the Shawanoes at Wyoming. An unkind feeling, produced by
trifling local causes, had grown up between the two tribes. At length a
childish dispute about the possession of a harmless grasshopper,
brought on a bloody battle; and a final separation of the two parties
soon followed. One day, while most of the Delaware men were absent on a
hunting excursion, the women of that tribe went out to gather wild
fruits on the margin of the river, below their village. Here they met a