guidance on this occasion, which letters I shall deliver you when I am at or near your post, and shall encamp the troops I have with me at some distance from the fort, till you have reasonable time to be made acquainted with the Marquis de Vaudreuil's instructions and the capitulation, a copy of which I have with me likewise.

After this he encamped with his detachment on a stream which empties into Lake Erie. Here he found a number of Huron chiefs, who inquired of him whether the reports which they had heard in regard to the surrender of the territory were true; apprizing him, at the same time, that they had been sent out by M. Bellestre for the purpose of defending the country, and to obtain information as to the events which_had_transpired below. Rogers confirmed the fact of the capitulation, and made a speech to the Hurons of the most conciliatory character; after which he encamped at the west end of Lake Erie with his detachment. The next day he met with a party of Indians, who told him that Bellestre was a strong man," and that he intended to fight the English. Not long after, sixty Indians, who said that they had come from Detroit the previous day, arrived at his camp. They offered to conduct the English detachment to that place, and informed Rogers that M. Brheme, who had been sent by him with the letter, had been imprisoned by the French commandant.

While the English were thus advancing towards Detroit, the French commandant was not idle. He had collected round his post numerous tribes of savages, and, knowing that they were strongly impressed by symbols, he had caused a pole to be erected, with the image of a man's head on the top, and upon this was placed a crow.

He told the Indians that the head

represented the English, and the crow himself, and that the meaning of it all was, that the French would scratch out the brains of their enemies. The Indians, however, would not believe it, and expressed their apprehensions that the reverse would be the fact, and that the English at Detroit would scratch out the brains of the French.

About this time Rogers received the following letter from the commandant of Detroit:

"SIR:-I received the letter you wrote me by one of your officers, but, as I have no interpreter, cannot fully answer it. The officer that delivered me yours gives me to understand that he was sent to give me notice of your arrival to take possession of this garrison, according to the capitulation made in Canada; that you have likewise a letter from Monsieur Vaudreuil directed to me. I beg, sir, you will halt your troops at the entrance of the river till you send me the capitulation and the Marquis de Vaudreuil's letter, that I may act in conformity thereto.

"I have the honor to be, &c., &c.,

"DE BELLESTRE."

Shortly after, on the 25th of November, the English commander received the letter inserted below from M. Bellestre:

"DETROIT, 25th Nov., 1760. "SIR:-I have already, by Mr. Barrager, acquainted you with the reasons why I could not answer particularly the letter which was delivered me the 22d instant by the officer you sent to me. I am entirely unacquainted with the reasons of his not returning to you. I sent my Huron interpreter to that nation, and told him to stop them should they be on the road, not

C*

knowing positively whether they were inclined to favor you or us; and to tell them from me they should behave peaceably; that I knew what I owed to my general, and that, when the capitulation should be settled, I was obliged to obey. The said interpreter has orders to wait on you and deliver you this.

66

Be not surprised, sir, if along the coast you find the inhabitants upon their guard. It was told them you had several Indian nations with you, to whom you had promised permission to plunder; nay, that they were even resolved to force you to it. I have therefore allowed the said inhabitants to take to their arms, as it is for your safety and preservation as well as ours; for, should those Indians become insolent, you may not, perhaps, in your present situation, be able to subdue them alone.

"I flatter, myself, sir, that, as soon as this shall come to hand, you will send me, by some of the gentlemen you have with you, both the capitulation and Monsieur de Vaudreuil's letter.

"I have the honor to be, sir,

"Your very humble and obedient servant,

"DE BELLESTRE."

After advancing five miles farther up the Detroit river, Rogers the next day sent a second letter, of which the following is a copy, by Captain Campbell:

"SIR: I acknowledge the receipt of your two letters, both of which were delivered to me yesterday. Mr. Brheme has not yet returned. The enclosed letter from the Marquis de Vaudreuil will inform you of the surrender of all Canada to the King of Great Britain, and of the great indulgence granted to the inhabitants, as also of the terms granted to the troops of his most Christian majesty. Captain Campbell, whom I have sent forward with this letter, will show you the capitulation. I desire you will not detain him, as I am determined, agreeable to my instructions from General Amherst, speedily to relieve your post. I shall stop the troops I have with me at the hither end of the town till four o'clock, by which time I expect your answer. Your inhabitants will not surprise me: as yet I have seen no other in that position but savages waiting for my orders. I can assure you, sir, the inhabitants of Detroit shall not be molested, they and you complying with the capitulation, but be protected in the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of their estates; neither shall they be pillaged by my Indians, nor by yours that have joined me.

"I am, &c.,

"To Captain Bellestre, Commanding at Detroit."

ROBERT ROGERS.

After despatching this letter he pushed his boats up the Detroit river to within half a mile of the fort, and encamped his detachment in a field.

The English camp was soon visited by Captain Campbell and a French officer, who presented to Major Rogers M. Bellestre's compliments, stating that he was instructed by that officer to inform him that the post had been surrendered. Lieutenants Lefflie and McCormick were then sent with thirtysix Royal Americans, who immediately took possession of the fort; when the Indians, to the number of seven hundred, who had been collected there by the French commander, set up a tremendous yell, exulting that their prophecy concerning the crow had been verified.

Major Rogers now formally took possession of this important post, receiving at the same time a plan of the fort, and a list of the warlike and other

stores. The French commandant and the troops forming the garrison were placed under the charge of Lieutenant Holmes, with thirty Rangers, to be conducted to Philadelphia. Twenty men were also sent to escort the French soldiers from the posts of Miami and Gatanois, and the command of the fort was given to Captain Campbell. Rogers, having made a treaty with the neighboring Indians, set out with a party to Lake Huron for the purpose of taking possession of Michilimackinac; but the ice in the lake so obstructed his passage that he could not proceed by water, and the Indians told him that it would be impossible for him to reach that place by land without snow-shoes. Accordingly, having replaced the ammunition and stores which he had taken with him at Detroit, he left that post on the 21st of November, 1760, after intrusting to Captain Campbell its command. With the change of jurisdiction thus effected, a new scene will now open upon us.

CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY UNDER THE ENGLISH.

No material change took place in the condition of the country in consequence of its surrender to the English. The capitulation of Montreal permitted the French emigrants to remain in the territory and to enjoy undisturbed their civil and religious rights. Agriculture was no more encouraged than before, and the same general plan continued to be pursued in conducting the fur-trade. No land was allowed to be purchased directly of the Indians, nor were the English commandants, styled governors, permitted to make any grants of land except within certain prescribed limits. The settlements of the French, however, continued to extend, and their long, narrow farms, surrounded by pickets and fronted by houses of bark or logs and their roofs thatched with straw, were seen stretching along the banks of all the principal streams. There were as yet no schools, and the instruction of the children continued to be confided entirely to the Catholic priests. Before that time peltries had constituted almost the only medium of traffic, but now English coin began to be introduced. Horses were for a long time unknown at Detroit, the first having been brought there, it is said, from Fort Duquesne after Braddock's defeat.

Although the English had acquired possession of the country, it had been against the will of the Indians. The design of Pontiac probably was to lead the English into his territory only that he might have a better opportunity to destroy them. He believed that it was their intention to drive him from his lands, and he therefore considered them as dangerous intruders. His spacious domain, its waters abounding with fish and its woods with game, had now fallen into the hands of a people whom he had always looked upon as his enemy. Some of the Indians had been struck by the British officers in the garrison, an indignity which their savage natures could not endure, and they readily joined with their chief to expel these hated strangers from their country.

Pontiac was not long in circulating war-belts among all the principal tribes on the borders of the lakes, and he formed a chain of operations extending more than a thousand miles along their waters. He flattered himself that if the British garrisons could be destroyed or driven away he should afterward be able effectually to defend the country against farther intrusion by means of his own strength combined with that of his savage allies. A grand council of the Indians was accordingly soon assembled at the River Aux Ecorce, and Pontiac addressed them in person. He told them that it was the design of the English to drive the Indians from their country, and that they were their natural and inveterate enemies. He also assured them

that the Great Spirit had appeared to a Delaware Indian in a dream and thus addressed him: " 'Why do you suffer these dogs in red clothing" (the English) "to enter your country and take the land I gave you? Drive them from it and then, when you are in distress, I will help you." He also exhibited to them a war-belt, which he said the French King had sent over from France, ordering them to drive out the British and make way for the return of the French.

The shores of the lakes were soon alive with bodies of Indian warriors, who had abandoned their hunting-grounds and camps and were repairing to the posts on the frontier. Among these were seen the Ottawas, the Chippewas, the Miamis, the Pottowatomies, the Missisagas, the Shawanese, the Ottagamies, and the Winnebagoes, besides parties from numerous other tribes. At about the same time they attacked the Forts of Le Bœuf, Venango, Presque Isle, Michilimackinac, St. Joseph, Miami, Green Bay, Óuiatonon, Pittsburg, and Sandusky. Their military operations, indeed, extended along the entire line of the waters of the lower lakes.

This general and simultaneous attack was made in the month of May, 1763, and was so sudden and wholly unexpected that the garrisons were all taken by surprise. Detroit was then the most important station upon the lakes, and was garrisoned by one hundred and twenty-two men and eight officers, Major Gladwin being the commandant. Three rows of pickets surrounded the fort in the form of a square. Most of the houses of the French were situated within these pickets, that they might be protected by the guns of the fort. The inhabitants were provided with arms and ammunition. Within the pickets there was also a circular space, which was named by the French Le chemin du Ronde, from its being a place of deposit for arms; and over the gates of the fort, and at each of its corners, there were small dwellings. The town was defended in front by an armed schooner named the Beaver, moored in the river, which at this point is about three-quarters of a mile wide. The post commanded the great channel of communication from Lake Michigan to Buffalo and Pittsburg; its possession, therefore, was an object of great importance; and Pontiac, who was the chief director of the confederacy, undertook its reduction in per

son.

His plan was one which strikingly exhibits the cunning which is so characteristic of the Indians. He intended to take the fort by surprise; and for this purpose he ordered a party of his warriors to saw off their rifles so short that they could conceal them under their blankets, and, under a feigned pretence, to gain admission into the fort, and massacre the garrison. To carry out his design, he encamped at a short distance from the post, and sent word to the commandant that he was desirous of holding a council with him, that "they might brighten the chain of peace." On the evening of that day, an Indian woman, by the name of Catharine, brought to Major Gladwin a pair of moccasins which she had been employed to make for him, and he was so much pleased with them that he gave her an elk-skin, and told her to take it home and make from it several pairs more. She took the skin, but continued to linger about the gate of the fort as if her business were unfinished; and the singularity of her conduct attracted attention. Major Gladwin accordingly ordered her to be called back, and inquired of her why she did not hasten home, that she might finish the moccasins by the time he had required them to be done. The woman remarked that she did not like to take the skin away, as he seemed to prize it so much, since she feared "she could never bring it back." Her mind seemed to be struggling with some secret, and, after being pressed,

she developed the whole plot. Major Gladwin immediately ordered the guards to be doubled, and sentinels to be stationed on the ramparts.

As night approached, fires were seen in the Indian camp, and their warsongs were distinctly heard, so that the English commandant was convinced that something important was contemplated by them, and that the woman had told the truth, as the savages always excite themselves in this manner preparatory to any great enterprise they are about to undertake.

The next morning, according to previous arrangement, Pontiac and his warriors repaired to the fort. As he was advancing, he noticed that there was an unusual number of soldiers upon the ramparts, and that the officers all had pistols in their belts. Having entered the council-house, or the place assigned for the meeting, he opened the discussion with a speech, in which he made great professions of friendship for the English. As the time approached when, as the woman had stated, the belt was to be delivered and a fire upon the garrison commenced, his gestures became more vehement. At this moment the governor and his officers drew their swords, and the English soldiers made a clattering upon the ground with their muskets. Pontiac himself was now the party surprised, but he continued perfectly calm and unmoved.

The commandant soon commenced his reply, but, instead of thanking the chief for his professions of friendship, he charged him with being a traitor, and, to convince him of his knowledge of the plot, he stepped forward to the Indian who sat on his skin nearest to him, and, opening his blanket, exposed the shortened rifle. At the same time, addressing himself to the warriors, he told them instantly to leave the fort, as his men, should they discover their treachery, would show them no mercy. He also assured them that they would be permitted to go out in safety, as he had promised them his protection.

The warriors accordingly sallied out of the fort; but, as soon as they had passed the gates, they turned about and fired upon the garrison. They then proceeded to the commons, where they murdered an English woman who resided there, and, horrid to relate, cooked and feasted upon her remains. After this they went to Isle de Cochon, (Hog Island,) and barbarously destroyed a whole family.

The savages had now sufficiently evinced their hostile intentions. Collecting around the fort, they fired upon the garrison from the nearest houses, and even from behind the pickets. Measures were soon taken, however, to burn such buildings as they could avail themselves of for this purpose, by throwing shells. But, as soon as the shells fell, the savages ran up to them, with loud yells, and extinguished the matches before they had time to explode. Still, in spite of all their efforts to prevent it, the buildings were soon demolished, and the Indians then withdrew to a low ridge which overlooked the pickets, and from this they kept up a constant fire upon the fort. Although Pontiac, as the acknowledged head of the confederacy, was the leader in the attack upon Detroit, he was aided by several chiefs, who had placed themselves under his direction. Among these were the Ottawa chiefs Mahigam, or the Wolf, Wabunemay, or the White Sturgeon, Kittacomsi, and Agouchiois; and the Chippewa chiefs Pashquois, Gayashque, Wasson, and Macatay-wasson.

The influence of Pontiac had for a long time been very great, not only with the French, but also with the remotest tribes upon the borders of the lakes. In 1746 he defended Detroit against a combined force under Mackinac, the Turtle, aided by a portion of his own tribe, the Ottawas. While he was thus assisting the French, they were no less warm in their attach