however, that in general quite as much was effected by strategem as by force, and that, apparently, by a preconcerted system indicative of the far-reaching superintendence of the great leader.

This chapter may be appropriately closed with the following extracts from speeches made by Pontiac to the French of Detroit during the siege of that place :

"I do not doubt, my brothers, that this war is very troublesome to you, for our warriors are continually passing and repassing through your settlement. I am sorry for it. Do not think that I approve of the damage that is done by them, and as a proof of this, remember the war with the Foxes, and the part which I took in it. It is now seventeen years since the Ojibwas of Michilimackinac, combined with the Sacs and Foxes, came down to destroy you. Who then defended you? Was it not I and my young men? Michinac, great chief of all these nations, said in council that he would carry to his village the head of your commandant; that he would eat his heart and drink his blood. Did I not take your part? Did I not go to his camp and say to him that if he wished to kill the French he must first kill me and my warriors? Did I not assist you in routing them and driving them away? And now you think No, my brothers; I

that I would turn my arms against you! am the same French Pontiac who assisted you seventeen years ago; I am a Frenchman, and I wish to die a Frenchman; and I now repeat to you that you and I are one-that it is for both our interests that I should be avenged. Let me alone. I do not ask you for aid, for it is not in your power to give it. I only ask provisions for myself and men. Yet, if you are inclined to assist me, I shall not refuse you. It would please me, and you yourselves would be sooner rid of your troubles, for I promise you that as soon as the English are driven out we will go back to our villages, and there await the arrival of our French father. You have heard what I have to say; remain at peace, and I will watch that no harm shall be done to you, either by my men or by the other Indians."

The following address was made at a more advanced stage of the siege, when Pontiac had become anxious to secure the French as auxiliaries in the war. Throwing a war-belt into their midst, he said:

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My brothers, how long will you suffer this bad flesh to remain upon your lands? I have told you before, and I now tell you again, that when I took up the hatchet, it was for your good. This year the English must all perish throughout Canada. The Master of Life commands it, and you, who know him better than we, wish to oppose his will. Until now I have said nothing on this matter. I have not urged you to take part with us in the war. It would have been enough had you been content to sit quiet on your mats, looking on, while we were fighting for you. But you have not done so. You call yourselves our friends, and yet you assist the English with provisions, and go about as spies among our villages. This must not continue. You must be either wholly French or wholly English. If you are French, take up that war-belt and lift the hatchet with us; but if you are English, then we declare war upon you. My brothers, I know this is a hard thing. We are all alike children of our great father, the King of France, and it is hard to fight among brethren for the sake of dogs. But there is no choice. Look upon the belt, and let us hear your answer."

CHAPTER IV.

MASSACRE AT FORT MACKINAC.

THE following description of Michilimackinac is taken from Mr. Parkman's very excellent work entitled "History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac." "It is drawn," says the writer, "from traditional accounts, aided by a personal examination of the spot, where the stumps of the pickets and the foundations of the houses may still be traced."

"In the spring of the year 1763, before the war broke out, several English traders went up to Michilimackinac, some adopting the old route of the Ottawa, and others that of Detroit and the lakes. We will follow one of the latter on his adventurous progress. Passing the fort and settlement of Detroit, he soon enters Lake St. Clair, which seems like a broad basin filled to overflowing, while, along its far distant verge, a faint line of forest separates the water from the sky. He crosses the lake, and his voyageurs next urge his canoe against the current of the great river above. At length Lake Huron opens before him, stretching its liquid expanse, like an ocean, to the farthest horizon. His canoe skirts the eastern shore of Michigan, where the forest rises like a wall from the water's edge; and as he advances northward an endless line of stiff and shaggy fir trees, hung with long mosses, fringes the shore with an aspect of a monotonous desolation. In the space of two or three weeks, If his Canadians labor well, and no accident occurs, the trader approaches the end of his voyage. Passing on his right the extensive island of Bois Blanc, he sees, nearly in front, the beautiful island of Mackinaw-rising, with its white cliffs and green foliage, from the broad breast of the waters. He does not steer

towards it, for at that day the Indians were its only tenants; but keeps along the main shore to the left, while his voyageurs raise their song and chorus. Doubling a point he sees before him the red flag of England swelling lazily in the wind, and the palisades and wooden bastions of Fort Michilimackinac standing close upon the margin of the lake. On the beach canoes are drawn up, and Canadians and Indians are idly lounging. A little beyond the fort is a cluster of the white Canadian houses, roofed with bark, and protected by fences of strong round piekets.

"The trader enters at the gate, and sees before him an extensive square area, surrounded by high palisades. Numerous houses, barracks, and other buildings form a smaller square within, and in the vacant space which they enclose appear the red uniforms of British soldiers, the gray coats of Canadians, and the gaudy Indian blankets, mingled in picturesque confusion, while a multitude of squaws, with children of every hue, stroll restlessly about the place. Such was Fort Michilimackinack in 1763. Its name, which in the Algonquin tongue signifies the Great Turtle, was first, from a fancied resemblance, applied to the neighboring island, and thence to the fort.

"Though buried in a wilderness, Michilimackinac was still of no recent origin. As early as 1671 the Jesuits had established a mission near the place, and a military force was not long in following, for under the French dominion the priest and the soldier went hand in hand. Neither toil, nor suffering, nor all the terrors of the wilderness could damp the zeal of the undaunted missionary; and the restless ambition of France was always on the alert to seize every point of advantage, and avail itself of every means to gain ascendancy over the forest tribes. Besides Michilimackinac, there were two other posts in this northern region, Green Bay and the Sault Ste. Marie. Both were founded at an early period, and both presented the same characteristic features a mission house, a fort, and a cluster of Canadian dwellings. They had been originally garrisoned by small parties of militia, who, bringing

their families with them, settled on the spot, and were founders of these little colonies. Michilimackinac, much the largest of the three, contained thirty families within the palisades of the fort, and about as many more without. Besides its military value, it was important as a center of the fur trade, for it was here that the traders engaged their men, and sent out their goods in canoes, under the charge of subordinates, to the more distant regions of the Mississippi and the northwest,

"The Indians near Michilimackinac were the Ojibwas and Ottawas, the former of whom claimed the eastern section of Michigan, and the latter the western, their respective portions being separated by a line drawn southward from the fort itself. The principal village of the Ojibwas contained about a hundred warriors, and stood upon the island of Michilimackinac, now called Mackinaw. There was another smaller village near the head of Thunder Bay. The Ottawas, to the number of two hundred and fifty warriors, lived at the settlement of L'Arbre Croche, on the shores of Lake Michigan, some distance southwest of the fort. This place was then the seat of the old Jesuit mission of St. Ignace, originally placed by Father Marquette on the northern side of the straits. Many of the Ottawas were nominal Catholics. They were all somewhat improved from their original savage condition, living in log houses, and cultivating corn and vegetables to such an extent as to supply the fort with provision, besides satisfying their own wants. The Ojibwas, on the other hand, were not in the least degree removed from their primitive barbarism."

At this time both these tribes had received from Pontiac the war-belt of black and purple wampum and the painted hatchet, and had pledged themselves to join in the contest. Before the end of May the Ojibwas or Chippewas received word that the blow had already been struck at Detroit, and wrought up to the highest pitch of excitement and emulation, resolved that peace should last no longer. Eager to reap all the glory of the victory, or prompted by jealousy, this tribe neither communicated to the Ottawas the news which had come