did out of regard for you and your family; for, if a discovery of our design had been made, you would have been blamed, whether guilty or not; and you would thus have been involved in difficulties from which you could not have extricated yourself.

"It is also true that I promised you to take care of your friend; and this promise I performed by desiring my son, at the moment of assault, to seek him out and bring him to my lodge. He went accordingly, but could not find him. The day after I sent him to Langlade's, when he was informed that your friend was safe; and had it not been that the Indians were then drinking the rum which had been found in the fort, he would have brought him home with him, according to my orders. I am very glad to find that your friend has escaped. We accept your present; and you may take him home with you.'

"Wawatam thanked the assembled chiefs, and, taking me by the hand, led me to his lodge, which was at the distance of a few yards only from the prison-lodge. My entrance appeared to give joy to the whole family; food was immediatejy prepared for me, and I now ate the first hearty meal which I had made since my capture. I found myself one of the family; and but that I had still my fears as to the other Indians, I felt as happy as the situation could allow.

"In the course of the next morning, I was alarmed by a noise in the prison-lodge; and, looking through the openings of the lodge in which I was, I saw seven dead bodies of white men dragged forth. Upon my inquiry into the occasion, I was informed that a certain chief, called by the Canadians Le Grand Sable, had not long before arrived from his Winter's hunt; and that he, having been absent when the war began, and being now desirous of manifesting to the Indians at large his hearty concurrence in what they had done, had gone into the prison-lodge, and there, with his knife, put the seven men, whose bodies I had seen, to death.

Shortly after, two of the Indians took one of the dead bodies, which they chose as being the fattest, cut off the head,

and divided the whole into five parts, one of which was put into each of five kettles, hung over as many fires, kindled for this purpose at the door of the prison-lodge. Soon after things were so far prepared, a message came to our lodge, with an invitation to Wawatam to assist at the feast.

"An invitation to a feast is given by him who is the master of it. Small cuttings of cedar-wood, of about four inches in length, supply the place of cards; and the bearer, by word of mouth, states the particulars. Wawatam obeyed the summons, taking with him, as is usual, to the place of entertainment, his dish and spoon. After an absence of about half an hour, he returned, bringing in his dish a human hand, and a large piece of flesh. He did not appear to relish the repast, but told me that it was then, and always had been, the custom among all the Indian nations, when returning from war, or on overcoming their enemies, to make a war-feast from among the slain. This, he said, inspired the warrior with courage in attack, and bred him to meet death with fearlessness.

"In the evening of the same day, a large canoe, such as those which come from Montreal, was seen advancing to the fort. It was full of men, and I distinguished several passengers. The Indian cry was made in the village, a general muster ordered, and, to the number of two hundred, they marched up to the fort, where the canoe was expected to land. The canoe, suspecting nothing, came boldly to the fort, where the passengers, as being English traders, were seized, dragged through the water, beaten, reviled, marched to the prison-lodge, and there stripped of their clothes, and confined.

"Of the English traders that fell into the hands of the Indians, at the capture of the fort, Mr. Tracy was the only one who lost his life. Mr. Ezekiel Solomons and Mr. Henry Bostwick were taken by the Ottawas, and, after the peace, carried down to Montreal, and there ransomed. Of ninety troops, about seventy were killed; the rest, together with those of the posts in the Bay des Puants, and at the river Saint Joseph, were also kept in safety by the Ottawas, till the peace, and then either

freely restored, or ransomed at Montreal. The Ottawas never overcame their disgust at the neglect with which they had been treated, in the beginning of the war, by those who afterward desired their assistance as allies."

CHAPTER V.

ESCAPE OF HENRY AND OTHERS.

HE peculiarities of the Indian character will readily explain

THE

to us the part which the Ottawas played in this transaction. They deemed it gross insult that the Ojibwas had undertaken an enterprise of such vast importance without consulting them or asking their assistance. They had, therefore, rescued Henry and his companions in tribulation from the hands of their captors, and borne them back to the fort, where they had, to the dismay of the Ojibwas, taken possession not only of the fort, but of the other prisoners also. This, however, was purely out of revenge to the Ojibwas, and not from any good-will toward the prisoners. After the Council of which Henry has told us, some of the prisoners, among whom was Henry, were given up; but the officers and several of the soldiers were retained, and carried by the Ottawas to L'Arbre Croche. Here, owing probably to the influence of Father Janois, they were treated with kindness. From this point Ethrington dispatched two letters, one by Janois to Major Gladwyn, at Detroit, and the other by an Ottawa Indian to Lieutenant Gorell, at Green Bay. Both of these letters contained a brief account of the massacre, and an earnest entreaty for assistance. The one addressed to Gorell was as follows ·

“MICHILIMACKINAC, June 11, 1763.

"Dear Sir,—This place was taken by surprise on the 4th instant by the Chippewas (Ojibwas), at which time Lieutenant Jamette and twenty men were killed, and all the rest taken prisoners; but our good friends the Ottawas have taken Lieutenant

Lesslie, me, and eleven men out of their hands, and have promised to reinstate us again. You'll therefore, on the receipt of this, which I send by a canoe of Ottawas, set out with all your garrison, and what English traders you have with you, and come with the Indian who gives you this, who will conduct you safe to me. You must be sure to follow the instruction you receive from the bearer of this, as you are by no means to come to this post before you see me at the village, twenty miles from this. I must once more beg you'll lose no time in coming to join me; at the same time be very careful, and always be on your guard. I long much to see you, and am, dear sir, GEO. ETHRINGTON.

"Your most humble servant,

"J. GORELL, Royal Americans.”

When Father Janois reached Detroit, he found the place closely besieged, and consequently no assistance could come from that quarter; but at Green Bay the case was otherwise. With seventeen men, Lieutenant Gorell had taken possession of that post in 1761, and, by a system of good management, had succeeded in allaying the hostility of the savages and securing the friendship of at least a part of the tribes around him. On receiving Ethrington's letter, Gorell told the Indians what the Ojibwas had done, and that he and his soldiers were going to Michilimackinac to restore order, adding that, during his absence, he commended the fort to their care. Presents were distributed among them, and advantage taken of every circumstance that could possibly be made to favor the English cause; so that when the party was ready to embark, ninety warriors proposed to escort the garrison on its way.

Arriving at L'Arbre Croche, where Captain Ethrington, Lieutenant Lesslie, and eleven men were yet detained as prisoners, Gorell received an intimation that the Ottawas intended to disarm his own men also; but he promptly informed them that such an attempt would meet with a vigorous resistance, and the Indians desisted. Several days were now spent in holding councils. The Indians from Green Bay requested the Ottawas