220 INDIANS DELIVER UP WHITE CAPTIVES. 



sideration, and they would be in no way worse off 

 than any other inhabitant of the Indian village, what- 

 ever the colour of his skin. That being" so many of 

 these unhappy people thus in time became not only 

 reconciled to their lot, but deeply attached to their 

 red comrades. 



A memorable instance where this was clearly proved, 

 occurred after the relief of Fort Pitt by General Bou- 

 quet, which was closely besieged by several Indian tribes 

 in 1763. This able officer, * who was of Swiss extrac- 

 tion, followed up his success the following season by a 

 demand for the delivery of all white captives, young 

 or old, living among the Indians either as prisoners 

 or as adopted members of the tribes. This occurred in 

 October, 1764, and he gave them twelve days to hand 

 them over to him at Fort Pitt. Every effort was made by 

 the Indians to evade the latter part of these conditions, 

 but Bouquet was resolute and enforced his demand as 

 the first condition of a truce. The compliance with 

 it in many cases led to incidents of a touching and 

 highly dramatic character. Some of these people came 

 to Bouquet's camp with full as much reluctance as that 

 which was felt by the Indians who gave them up. 

 Indeed several of them could only be secured by being 

 bound and guarded, f Many others clung to their 



* General Henry Bouquet, born in the Canton of Berne. Switzerland, 

 1719, was in the Dutch service, and afterwards entered the British service 

 in America. He was sent to relieve Fort Pitt (formerly Fort Duquesne) 

 1763, and so completely defeated the Indians (Aug. 5) that they aban- 

 doned the blockade. In 1764 he reduced the Indian tribes on the Ohio 

 to submission and 1765 died of yellow fever, at Pensacola, Florida. 



f See Narrative and Critical History of America, by Justin Winsor, 

 Librarian of Harvard University, 1889, Vol. i, pp. 290 and 292. 

 Also The History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac, by Francis Parkman, 

 1885, Vol. ii., p. 238. 



