bourhood rang nightly with the hideous shouts of the wardance. For a time exploration held its breath while the continent was thrilled with the shock of battle at Quebec.

*

We have mentioned the tragedy enacted at Michillimackinac, the result of the "conspiracy of Pontiac," whom Parkman terms the "Satan of the forest paradise." As it happened, the pioneer of the English fur trade in the west, Alexander Henry, had come to the Fort shortly after the Conquest to pursue his trade, and was one of its inmates at the time of the massacre. Some extracts from this trader's narrative of the occurrence, Mr. Parkman weaves into his own history of the Indian war after the Conquest. Henry's narrative is replete with interest, not only for the thrilling personal account he gives of the Ojibway surprise and massacre of the English garrison, but for its record of trading operations in Western Canada, and in the Indian territories beyond the Red River. His work, which is dated from Montreal, in 1809, is well written, and covers a period of trade and adventure from the years 1760 to 1776. In August, 1761, while as yet there had been no treaty of peace between the English and the Indians who had taken part with the French against the conquerors of the country, Henry decided to set out on a trading expedition from Montreal to Mackinaw, at the entrance to Lake Michigan. Receiving permission from General Gage, who was then Commander-in-Chief in Canada, and providing himself with a passport from the town major, he left Montreal on the 2nd of August, and Lachine on the following day. His party followed the usual route to the west, by the Ottawa and Lake Nipissing. By the end of the month, Henry had entered the Georgian Bay, and early in September, he reached the island of Michillimackinac, sometimes called the "Great Turtle." Here our traveller was cautioned not to remain, as the Indians of the region were

"Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories." By AlexanL'er Henry, Esq. New York, 1809.

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hostile to his countrymen, and the few French-Canadians at the Fort were far from friendly. But Henry disregarded this advice, for the place was important to him in preparing his outfit for trade in the North-West; though he took the precaution to cross the straits of Mackinaw and enter the Fort. The Fort at this time was garrisoned by a small number of militia who, having families, as Henry tells us, became less soldiers than settlers. Not a few of them had served in the French army; at the Conquest they entered the service and accepted the pay of Britain.

At the Fort, Henry was informed that the whole band of Chippeways from the neighbouring island of Michillimackinac intended to pay him a visit, a piece of information which was far from agreeable to the adventurous trader. The report was true. Here is Henry's account of the unwelcome visit:

"At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Chippeways came to my house, about sixty in number, headed by Minavavana, their chief. They walked in single file, each with his tomahawk in one hand and scalping-knife in the other. Their bodies were naked from the waist upward, except in a few instances, where blankets were thrown loosely over the shoulders. Their faces were painted with charcoal, worked up with grease; their bodies with white clay, in patterns of curious fancies. Some had feathers thrust through their noses, and their heads decorated with the same. It is unnecessary to dwell on the sensations with which I beheld the approach of this uncouth, if not frightful, assemblage."

In the colloquy that ensued, Henry was far from being assured; for, after an interval of pipe-smoking, during which the English trader endured the tortures of suspense, the chief addressed him in these words:

"Englishman, it is to you that I speak, and I demand your attention! Englishman, it is your people that have made war with our father, the French king. You are his enemy; and how, then, could you have the boldness to venture among us his children? You know that his enemies are ours. Englishman, although you have conquered the French, you have not

C

yet conquered us! We are not your slaves. These lakes these woods and mountains, were left to us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance; and we will part with them to none.

"Englishman, our father, the King of France, employed our young men to make war upon your nation. In this warfare many of them have been killed; and it is our custom to retaliate, until such time as the spirits of the slain are satisfied. But the spirits of the slain are to be satisfied in either of two ways the first, by the spilling of the blood of the nation by which they fell; the other, by covering the bodies of the dead, and thus allaying the resentment of their relations.

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done by making presents."

This is

Here Henry, we can imagine, breathed freely. It was his trading outfit, not his life, that was most in danger.

"Englishman, your king has never sent us any presents, nor entered into any treaty with us, wherefore he and we are still at war; and, until he does these things, we must consider that we have no other father or friend among the white men than the King of France; but, for you, we have taken into consideration that you have ventured your life among us, in the expectation that we should not molest you. You do not come armed, with an intention to make war; you come in peace, to trade with us, and supply us with necessaries, of which we are inuch in want. We shall regard you, therefore, as a brother; and you may sleep tranquilly without fear of the Chippeways. As a token of our friendship, we present you with this pipe to smoke."

The natural apprehension with which Henry regarded the visit of the Chippeways, as will be seen, was relieved by the turn things had taken. It was not his life, but his goods, they wanted. There is a delightful naiveté about the chief's speech, in his remarks about the giving of presents, a hint which Henry was slow to take, though he reluctantly acceded to a later request that the delegation should be allowed to taste his English "milk," i. e. rum. There is an amusing delicacy about the request for the rum, as Henry states it, which the Indians wanted to drink, so as to know "whether or not there was any difference between the English and the French milk,” adding,