Sir William then address'd them in the following manner :BROTHERS,—I have now gone through the business of condolance with you, and hope it will prove agreeable, and ease your minds. Tomorrow I shall proceed to the business for which you are now assembled.

So soon as Sir William had ended, each of the Nations present gave the Yo-hah, or shout of approbation, after which they received pipes, tobacco, and a drameach. And after a short consultation amongst the Chiefs, Conoghquiesor Chief of Oneida arose, and haveing repeated according to custom all that had been said with the several strings and belts to the Six Nations, etc., he addressed Sir William on their behalf as follows :—

BROTHER GORAH WARRAGHIYAGEY: 1-We give thanks to the Great Spirit for enableing us to meet this day after so many accidents as have befallen us, and we thank you for what you have said to us, which we have hearkened to with great attention. We feel ourselves something easier since you spoke to us, and according to the manner of our forefathers removed those objects from before our eyes which have given us pain. Brother, we and our dependants have been for some time like giddy people not knowing what to do, wherever we turned about we saw our blood, and when our young men wanted to go a hunting the wild beasts in our country, they found it covered with fences, so that they were weary crossing them, neither can they get venison to eat, or bark to make huts; for the beasts are run away and the trees cut down. The French told us this would come to pass, and when our young men sit down hungry in hot weather, and find no trees to shelter them, it makes them soon get drunk. Brother, we have got a great deal to say about these things, but as you have remembered our old ceremonys, taken the hatchet out of our heads, and given us such good words, we will do in like manner by you. Then went thro the ceremony of condolance with strings and belts, and buried the axe, but did not as usual take it out of the heads of the English. After which the Speaker said,

BROTHER,-We return the Great Spirit our best thanks for giving us the pleasure of seeing your son safe returned and of hearing good friendly words he spoke to us; we have had our neck stretched out this long time endeavouring to see him. We now congratulate you on his safe arrival over the

The Indian name of Sir William Johnson.

dangerous lake, and we heartily thank him for his love for us and for the good things he has said to us, which makes us all easier in our minds. Then the Chiefs all arose, and shaking Sir John by the hand, welcomed him to America. After which adjourned till next morning.

At night Sir William had some private conferences with several of the Chiefs, to whom he spoke on the subject of their neglecting to take the axe out of the heads of the English, which indicated resentment. His discourse had a good deal of effect upon them, and they withdrew to have a conference amongst themselves.

5 March

The Cherokees refusing to open their embassy from a superstitious notion that as it was noon, the day was too far advanced for a work of peace, according to the opinion of the Southern Nations. The Six Nations, having been late assembling, at length addressed Sir William by their speaker, who made an apology for their omission of the preceding day, and then in a speech for that purpose took the hatchet out of the heads of the English, and buried it, giving a Belt of Wampum, then agreeing to meet earlyer next morning, adjourned. After which the day was spent in private conferences with Sir William, and at night they had a feast and dance.

6 March

Sir William on entering the Council room introduced the Cherokee deputys to the rest of the Indians, and then addressed the Six Nations, etc., as follows :

BROTHERS,—I am now to speak on the subject for which you have been here assembled, and I desire you will pay due regard and attention to my words. [He urges them to make peace with the Six Nations.] . . . Gave a Large White Belt.

Sir William then told the Cherokee Chiefs they might begin, when Ouconastota 1 stood up, ranged all his Belts, Calumets of Peace, etc., in order, and then spoke as follows :

BROTHERS,-Hearken to me and give attention to what I have to say. We come from Chotte 2 where the Wise House, the House of Peace is erected, to Charlestown and from thence

1 The Chief who visited England in the days of George II.

2 Chotte was five miles above the ruins of Fort Loudon, at the junction of the Tellico and Little Tennessee rivers, on the south-west frontier of the State of Tennessee.

by water to New York in our way to this place, it being recommended to us by Mr. Stuart our Superintendant to go by water lest we should meet with opposition, or to be attacked if we travelled by land thro' the woods, and Mr. Stuart told us that our Father, Sir William Johnson, would assist us in sending for our brothers the Northern Indians to meet about peace. Gave 3 Strings.

[Belts are presented to each of the Six Nations, and a calumet to Sir William Johnson.] . . .

BROTHERS, We now present a Belt from our women to yours, and we know that they will hear us, for it is they who undergo the pains of childbirth and produce men, surely therefore they must feel mothers' pains for those killed in war, and be desirous to prevent it. A Belt.

BROTHERS,-Here is a Belt from our boys to you, who are now but small, and therefore their speech must be childish untill they arrive at manhood. All they desire is that they may be once more enabled to venture out to hunt birds and rabbits without the risk of being carried away or killed, and therefore all they beg is peace. A Small Belt.

BROTHERS, With this Belt we clear and open the road, removing all things out of it that may hurt us. It was not us that stopped it, but our elder brothers the English and French, who in their dispute felled a great tree across it in the path; but as the tree is now rotten the path is now open.

A Belt.

SACHEMS AND CHIEFS, you have heard what we had to say, we beg you to agree to it, and that you will send some of your people with us to open the path between your towns and Chotte, that all our doors may once more be opened, so that we may be at peace and that our young people may pass and repass as their occasions require, without being in danger of being scratched or wounded by the briars along the road. A Belt.

[On 7 March the Chief of the Oneidas replies in kind, and on 8 March, Sir William Johnson addresses the entire assembly, urging the tribes to conclude a boundary treaty, and frankly to communicate their grievances.] .

P. M. The Indians having had a private conference amongst themselves assembled, and by their Speaker answered the speech of this morning as follows:

BROTHER,-We thank the Great Spirit above for the present meeting, and we shall honestly answer you on the subject of

your speech, and declare the causes of our uneasyness which we confess to have arrived at a great pitch-and we beg in our turn you will open your ears and hearken to what we have to say, and endeavour to obtain that redress for us which is the only sure way of securing the peace.

BROTHER,-We have often put you in mind of the many promises which were made to us at the beginning of the late war by the Generals, Governors, and by yourself, from all which we had the strongest reason to expect that the event of your success would have proved greatly to our benefit, that we should be favored and noticed, that we should not be wronged of our lands or of our peltry, that every encroachment should be removed, and we should live in peace, and travel about without molestation or hindrance. At the same time the French told us that what was said was not true, nor from your hearts; and that the day you got the better of them would be the first day of our misfortunes. You persuaded us not to believe them, but we have found it since too true. We soon found ourselves used ill at the posts, on the frontiers, and by the traders. The people who had formerly wronged us, and who did not choose to venture before to take possession of our rights, then rose up to crush us. The rum bottles hung at every door to steal our lands, and instead of the English protecting us as we thought they would do, they employed their superior cunning to wrong us, they murdered our people in Pensilvania, Virginia, and all over the country, and the traders began more and more to deceive, and now neither regard their own character, or the officers sent to take care of the trade, so that if we are wronged, who is to help us? We cant ramble over the country for justice, and if we did, we begin now to grow old and wise, we see that your wise men in the towns will be always against us. Your people came from the sun, rising up our rivers to the west, and now they begin to come upon us from the south, they have got already almost to Fort Pitt, but nothing is done to drive them away. You cant say that we have not often complained of this, and if you are not able or willing to do it we can, and must do so soon or they will eat us up, for your people want to chuse all the best of our lands, tho' there is enough within your part with your own marks upon it, without any inhabitants. Brother, this is very hard upon us, but it is not all, for the road thro' the country is no longer safe, the Pensilvanians and Virginians

murder all those of our people they can meet, without any reason, and instead of leaving off as you told us they would, they have murdered ten the other day, two of which are our own people, the rest are our younger brothers and nephews that depend upon us. Yet you wont take the murderer or do any thing to him. You are wise, you have a Government and laws, but you dont prevent this; you often tell us we dont restrain our people and that you do so with yours, but, brother, your words differ more from your actions than ours do. We have large wide ears and we can hear that you are going to settle great numbers in the heart of our country, and our necks are stretched out, and our faces set to the sea shore to watch their motions. Brother, you that are wise and have laws and say you can make your people do what they are desired, should prevent all this, and if they wont let us alone, you should shake them by the head. We believe that you are wise and that you can do all this, but we begin to think you have no mind to hinder them. If you will say you cant, we will do it for you, our legs are long, and our sight so good that we can see a great way thro' the woods, we can see the blood you have spilled and the fences you have made, and surely it is but right that we should punish those who have done all this mischief. Brother, this is the truth, it comes from our hearts. Why should we hide it from you? If you wont do justice to our fathers the Mohawks who are going to lose the land at their very doors, if you wont keep the people away from the rivers near Ohio, and. keep the road open, making Pensylvania and Virginia quiet, we must get tired of looking to you, and turn our faces another way. Gave a Large Belt.

BROTHER,-We heartily thank the Great King for his intentions, and for what he is going to do about the boundary line, but, brother, we hear bad news, the Cherokees have told us that the line was run in their country last year, and that it has surrounded them so that they cannot stir; we beg that you will think of this, for our heads will be quite turned if that is to be our case, we therefore think that the line we talked of last should not go beyond Fort Augusta.

[Sir William relates the efforts that have been made to apprehend the murderers, and informs them that £2,500 have been voted by the Province of Pennsylvania to the tribes of the victims. The treaty between the Northern Indians and the Cherokees is then concluded.]