vive the battle, wrote a short letter to Sir Jeffery Amherst, giving an account of the day's events and closing as follows: "Whatever our fate may be, I thought it necessary to give your excellency this early information, that you may, at all events, take such measures as you may think proper with the provinces for their own safety and the effectual relief of Fort Pitt, as, in case of another engagement, I fear insurmountable difficulties in protecting and transporting our provisions, being already so much weakened by the losses of this day in men and horses, besides the additional necessity of carrying the wounded, whose situation is truly deplorable." In this action about sixty soldiers and several officers had been killed or wounded. During the fight the wounded were brought into an open space in the centre and surrounded by bags of flour to ward off the bullets. In this situation they were compelled to lay helpless, suffering the agonies of thirst, for there was no water near at hand. Should their comrades be defeated, a fate inexpressibly terrible would immediately follow. The condition of those who still survived was but little better. They were surrounded by a large number of savages, who were leaping from tree to tree in the full hope of success. Eight years before, in these very forests, they had destroyed nearly twice their number of British soldiers. They were now thirsting after the blood of Bouquet's army.

No fires were built in the camp of the English; nothing to break the thick darkness that hovered over them. All was still as the grave throughout the night, but with the dawn of the following day a burst of Indian yells went up on every side. In another instant they opened fire upon them. The bullets now flew thick in every direction and the soldiers fell dead on every hand. Volley after volley poured in until many had perished. As on the previous day the Indians would rush up, endeavoring to break the ring, but in every such attempt they were driven back in disorder. The troops were now suffering from thirst as well as from the deadly fire of the enemy, while in the interior of the camp the scene was all confusion. The horses became mad with terror as the bullets flew among them. They would break away by scores, and leaping

through the ring and passing the savages in their mad course, they would soon disappear in the thickest of the woods.

At ten o'clock the ring which encircled the convoy began to waver. The soldiers were falling fast. Bouquet looked on in sadness for a moment, and then, conceiving a stratagem, he brightened with hope. It was plain that if the Indians could be brought together in a body and be made to stand their ground that he would soon gain the day. To effect this he resolved to increase their confidence. Two companies were ordered to fall back into the interior of the camp, while the troops on either hand joined across the vacant space, as if to cover the retreat of their comrades. The orders were no sooner obeyed than the Indians, seeing that the line had weakened, leaped from behind the trees and rushed headlong to the assault. The shock was unbearable. The men struggled to maintain the line, but the Indians seemed on the point of breaking their way through it, when the situation of affairs took a sudden change. The movement is described in a thrilling manner by Mr. Parkman:

"The two companies who had apparently abandoned their positions, were in fact destined to begin the attack, and they now sallied out from the circle at a point where a depression in the ground, joined to the thick growth of trees, concealed them from the eyes of the Indians. Making a short detour through the woods they came round upon the flank of the furious assailants and discharged a deadly volley in their very midst. Numbers were seen to fall; yet, though completely surprised and utterly at a loss to understand the nature of the attack, the Indians faced about with the greatest intrepidity and boldly returned the fire; but the Highlanders, with yells as wild as their own, fell on them with the bayonet. The shock was irresistible and they fled before the charging ranks of this tumultuous throng. Orders had been given to two other companies occupying a contiguous part of the circle to support the attack whenever a favorable moment should occur, and they had, therefore, advanced a little from their position and lay close, crouched in ambush. The fugitives, pressed by the Highland bayonets, passed directly across their front, upon

which they arose and poured among them a second volley no less destructive than the former. This completed the rout. The four companies uniting drove the flying savages through the woods, giving them no time to rally or reload their empty rifles, killing many and scattering the rest in hopeless confusion."

In another part of the field both the soldiers and the Indians maintained their positions during this movement, but when the Indians saw their comrades totally routed they lost their courage and fled. In a few moments the whooping ceased and the Indians had all disappeared, leaving behind many dead. In both battles the English had lost eight officers and one hundred and fifteen men.

Owing to the loss of many of the horses, they were now unable to transport all the stores. The surplus was destroyed, and again the army, broken and haggard, moved on towards Fort Pitt, which they reached on the tenth of August. The fort, which had been closely besieged for nearly a month, was now deserted and Bouquet entered it without opposition.

CHAPTER XV.

DISASTER AT THE DEVIL'S HOLE-FATE OF WILKINS' DETACHMENT— THE FRONTIERS OF VIRGINIA AND PENNSYLVANIA-SLAUGHTER OF THE SETTLEMENTS - TERRIBLE SCENES AND INCIDENTS OF BORDER WARFARE-DESOLATION-THE DEFENSES.

BEFORE leaving the provincial frontier and passing along with the events of border warfare towards the far west, I must, in order to perfect the narrative, mention briefly the events that compelled the savages in all quarters east of the Mississippi to sue for peace. While Dalzell was marching against the strongholds of Pontiac, and Bouquet forcing a bloody way to Fort Pitt, Sir William Johnson was laboring judiciously to secure the friendship of the tribes of the Six Nations. For this purpose he sent deputies to all the villages in the lake. region, and indeed in the whole northwest, to invite the warriors to meet him in council at Niagara. The council was largely attended by the people of the Six Nations, and, although with reluctance, the Indians promised friendship for themselves and also to make war on those tribes who were still in arms against the English. The tribes of Canada were induced to send a deputation to the western Indians, requesting them to lay down the hatchet. The Iroquois also sent deputies among the Delawares for the same purpose.

Notwithstanding these conciliatory measures, the frontier settlements of New York suffered from the continued attacks of the savages, for while one force was on foot to quell their fury, another was actively engaged to irritate it against the English.

On the fourteenth of September, 1763, a train of wagons and pack-horses was proceeding on a return trip from Fort Schlosser, whither they had gone with supplies. When they

reached a point opposite the Devil's Hole they were greeted by a blaze of musketry. The horses leaped madly. On the left of the train, far down the awful precipice, lay the black gulf, while on its right the savages were leaping from tree to tree towards them, yelping like bloodhounds. The twenty-four soldiers who guarded the train beheld death on either side, and prepared themselves to meet it. In a moment the awful event was over. The horses plunged blindly into the abyss, and the whole train fell, crushing upon the sharp rocks far below. Only three escaped, among whom was Stedman, the conductor of the train. Beholding the approaching fate of the convoy, he wheeled his horse and bravely spurred through the crowd of Indians. Flying through the forests at a high speed he soon reached Fort Schlosser, where he reported his loss. At no great distance were a party of soldiers, who had fortified a camp near the landing place. These, hearing the report of Indian rifles, and suspecting the real situation, hastened to the relief of the convoy; but the Indians, having prepared for their approach, soon routed them with great slaughter. As they rushed along a party of savages leaped from their ambuscade and poured a volley of musketry among them, shooting down fully half their number. Pursuing them hotly, the Indians picked them off, until only a few escaped. These fled to Niagara with the terrible account of their adventures.

Major Wilkins, on hearing it, immediately marched his whole garrison to the spot, but the Indians had gone. They gathered the dead bodies of the scalpless soldiers together, to the number of seventy, and beheld with inexpressible horror the awful results of the ambuscade of the Devil's Hole.

The fury of the Senecas, who were the actors in this bold attack, did not end with this. Not many days after, as Major Wilkins was advancing to the relief of Detroit, on the river above the great falls of Niagara, he was pounced upon by a handful of these fierce warriors and driven back with disorder. Recovering from this shock, Major Wilkins again started for Detroit, but this time he was overtaken by a severe storm. Nearly all the bateaux were overset, over seventy men perished, and the few surviving boats returned to Niagara.