hat
must become of you? He will utterly destroy you. Although you have
conquered the French you have not conquered us. We are not your
slaves. These lakes, these woods and mountains are left to us by our
ancestors, they are our inheritance and we will part with them to
none. Your nation supposes that we, like the white people, cannot live
without bread, and pork, and beef, but you ought to know that He, the
Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided food for us in these
spacious lakes and on these woody mountains.

"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 one of two ways; the first is by the spilling 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. This is
done by making presents. 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 among us
in the expectation that we would not molest you. You do not come
around with the intention to make war. You come in peace to trade with
us, and supply us with necessaries, of which we are in much need. We
shall regard you, therefore, as a brother, and you may sleep
tranquilly without fear of the Chippewas. As a token of friendship we
present you with this pipe to smoke."

Henry was afterwards visited by a party of two hundred Ottawa warriors
from _L'Arbre Croche_, about seventy miles southwest of Mackinaw. One
of the Chiefs addressed him thus:--

"Englishmen: We, the Ottawas, were some time since informed of your
arrival in this country, and of your having brought with you the goods
we so much need. At this news we were greatly pleased, believing that,
through your assistance, our wives and children would be able to pass
another winter; but, what was our surprise, when a few days ago we
were informed the goods which we had expected were intended for us
were on the eve of departure for distant countries, some of which are
inhabited by our enemies. These accounts being spread, our wives and
ch