Capture of Heyward and the Munro sisters on Glenn’s Island

The Capture of Heyward and the Munro Sisters on Glenn’s Island turns a concealed refuge into the start of a forced journey, and makes tracking—not open combat—the means by which the captives may be found. Magua’s discovery exposes the group, but Cora’s attempts to mark their route and Hawkeye and Uncas’s close reading of the landscape keep rescue possible.

Discovery and Capture

Duncan Heyward, Cora Munro, Alice Munro, and their companions are hidden inside a cavern when Magua appears at its entrance. Heyward initially sees that Magua’s eyes have not adjusted to the cavern’s dimness and considers retreating behind a bend in the rock. A sudden change in Magua’s expression tells him that the concealment has failed. Heyward fires, but Magua escapes around a narrow ledge and gives a whoop that is answered by the Hurons nearby. They break through the brush barrier, enter the cavern from both ends, and carry Heyward and his companions out into the open, surrounded by the band.

The Captives’ Route and Cora’s Signals

The Hurons lead their prisoners south, away from the road to William Henry. Heyward speculates that Magua might eventually turn toward Sir William Johnson’s settlement rather than take them toward Canada, but the party continues through the woods without revealing its destination. Cora remembers the scout’s instructions and tries to leave signs by bending aside twigs. When she manages to break a sumac bough and drop a glove, a Huron notices the mark, returns the glove, and breaks the remaining branches so that the disturbance resembles an animal’s passage. His warning gesture ends her attempts to leave further signs. Because horses in both groups leave tracks, the altered branches also make the trail harder to use.

Reading the Trail

Hawkeye and Uncas eventually follow the route despite the Hurons’ efforts to mislead them. Uncas notices that the horses ridden by the women have a distinctive lateral gait, and their tracks show that the party has travelled that way for many miles. Hawkeye also recognizes that the Huron who found Cora’s broken branch deliberately damaged the rest of the bush to disguise her signal. The apparent disorder therefore becomes evidence: the contrast between one cleanly bent branch and the other ragged breaks suggests human interference rather than an animal’s browsing. The pursuers follow this reasoning to the spring and regain the trail.

From Capture to Renewed Pursuit

The episode establishes how vulnerable the captives are to vigilance and deception, while also showing why the pursuit does not end with their capture. Cora’s one successful signal is detected, yet the attempt itself leaves a clue that Hawkeye and Uncas can interpret. The rescue party’s advantage lies not in a clear trail but in knowledge of how people, animals, and terrain leave traces. In that way, the capture begins a sustained contest over who can read the forest more accurately: the captors trying to conceal their route, or the pursuers reconstructing it.