g.

Washington honored the Indians with letters accompanied by belts of
wampum, after the approved Indian fashion. A delegation from the St.
John river, Pierre Tomah at its head, went soon afterwards to
Washington's headquarters on the Delaware, where they received a
flattering welcome and were sumptuously entertained. On the 24th
December, 1776, Washington thus addressed them:

"Brothers of the St. John's tribe: It gave me great pleasure to hear
by Major Shaw that you keep the chain of Friendship, which I sent you
in February last from Cambridge, bright and unbroken. I am glad to
hear that you have made a treaty of peace with your brothers and
neighbors of Massachusetts Bay. My good friend and brother, Gov'r
Pierre Tommah, and the warriors that came with him shall be taken good
care of, and when they want to return home they and our brothers of
Penobscot shall be furnished with everything necessary for their
journey. * * * Never let the King's wicked counsellors turn your
hearts against me and your brethren of this country, but bear in mind
what I told you last February and what I tell you now."

Washington's overtures were not without effect. This is evident from
the fact that the Maugerville people in May, 1776, reported that Gen.
Washington's letter had set the Indians on fire, and they were
plundering all people they thought to be Tories, and that perhaps when
the supply of Tories was exhausted others might share the name fate.
"We think it necessary," they added, "that some person of consequence
be sent among them." The Indians had always been allies of the French
and had never fully accepted the change of ownership on the River St.
John. They were disposed to view the cause of the Americans with
favor, more particularly when the French became their allies.

John Allan was by far the most active and energetic agent of Congress
in dealing with the Indians. He was born in Edinburgh and when four
years of age accompanied his parents to Halifax when that city was
founded by Cornwallis. At the commencement of the Revolution he lived
near Fort Cumberland, on the New Brunswick side of the isthmus of
Chignecto and carried on an extensive Indian trade visiting all the
villages as far west as the Penobscot river. His estimate of the
Indians is not particularly flattering. He says: "The Indians are
generally actuated according to the importance or influence any one
has who lives among them. They are credulous to a degree