430 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



It is not necessary that we should deal with the foregoing extracts 

 seriatim or at great length, nor is it the desire of the writer to appear 

 in the role of a special pleader. It will be quite sufficient to show by 

 documentary evidence that the traditions, on which the statements 

 just quoted are presumably based, are exaggerated and distorted. 

 In some cases there is just enough truth commingled with error to 

 call to mind the words of Tennyson : 



"A lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright, 



But a lie that is part of a truth is a harder matter to fight." 



Let us, for example, proceed to investigate the tragical story 

 of the alleged murder of the Indian woman by one of the Loyalists. 



That there may have been a current rumor to this effect is shown 

 by Lord Dorchester's letter to Governor Carleton, dated at Quebec, 

 January 3, 1787. In his letter Dorchester urges that the Indians 

 should be treated with kindness and civility. "It has been reported," 

 he says, "that a soldier shot one of them and wounded a woman. It 

 is also said that the malefactor has been hanged. If so justice has 

 been satisfied, but the Indians should be assured of the fact." 



It will be noticed that the version of the tragedy in Lord Dor- 

 chester's letter differs considerably from that recorded by the Abbé 

 Casgrain. And now for the facts as they are presented in the records 

 of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick. 



David Nelson and William Harbord, two disbanded soldiers, 

 late of the Queen's Rangers, were arrested in May, 1786, for shooting 

 an Indian named Pierre Benoit. They did not deny the shooting 

 but sought to excuse themselves by denying any intention to kill. 

 They were examined before Judge Allen and Edward Winslow, Esquire, 

 on Wednesday the 24th of May, the shooting having occurred the 

 previous Saturday. The prisoner Nelson made the following state- 

 ment : 



"This Examinant, David Nelson, sailli, 



Thai last Saturday, the sun about half an hour high, my comrade William 

 Harbord and I went down to the river to try to catch some fish. After being 

 there a little while we heard dogs by the house after our hogs. I dropped my 

 pole and ran to the house and took my firelock and went just above the house, 

 where I found two dogs gnawing one of my hogs, which they had killed. When 

 the dogs saw me l hex ran, and I fired at them. I also spoke lo Wm. Harbord 

 and desired him to fire, which he did and killed one of the dogs 



1 then desired Harbord to go with me and see if the other hogs were missing, 

 and we went in search of them but could not find any of them. I then said 

 the hogs must be taken into a boat; whoever owns the dogs must have the hogs. 



We then went to the shore and discovered some Indians in a canoe about a 

 quarter of a mile above us. We beckoned to them to come to and called to 

 them to stop. He answered, no, no, and said, you have killed my dog. I 



