As they approached the dreaded spot
the courage of the Indian allies gave out, and they slunk
behind, declaring that Sassacus was a god whom it was use-
less to think of attacking. The force with which Mason and
Underbill advanced to the fray consisted of just seventy-
seven Englishmen. Their task was to assault and carry an
entrenched fort or walled village containing seven hundred
Pequots. The fort was a circle of two or three acres in
area, girdled by a palisade of sturdy sapling-trunks, set firm
and deep into the ground, the narrow interstices between
them serving as loopholes wherefrom to reconnoitre any one
passing by and to shoot at assailants. At opposite sides
of this stronghold were two openings barely large enough
to let any one go through. Within this enclosure were the
crowded wigwams. The attack was skilfully managed, and
was a complete surprise. A little before daybreak Mason,
with sixteen men, occupied one of the doors, while Under-
bill made sure of the other. The Indians in panic sought '
first one outlet and then the other, and were ruthlessly shot
down, whichever way they turned. A few succeeded in
breaking loose, but these were caught and tomahawked by
the Indian allies, who, though afraid to take the risks of the



144 THE BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND

fight, were ready enough to help slay the fugitives. The
English threw firebrands among the wigwams, and soon the
whole village was in a light blaze, and most of the 'savages
suffered, albeit in abridged and therefore compara-
exterini- tively merciful form, the horrible death which they
"^'^ were so fond of inflicting upon their captives. Of

the seven hundred Pequots in the stronghold, but five got
away with their lives. All this bloody work had been done
in less than an hour, and of the English there had been two
killed and sixteen wounded. It was the end of the Pequot
nation. Of the remnant which had not been included in this
wholesale slaughter, most were soon afterwards destroyed
piecemeal in a running fight which extended as far westward
as the site of Fairfield. Sassacus fled across the Hudson
river to the Mohawks, who slew him and sent his scalp to
Boston, as a peace-offering to the English. The survivors
were divided between the Mohegans and Narragansetts and
adopted into those tribes. 