1763, Mat.] AMBITION OF PONTIAC. 217 



luxuriance of the Avoods ; the white dwellings, 

 looking out from the foliage ; and, in the distance, 

 the Indian wigwams curling their smoke against 

 the sky, — all were mingled in one broad scene of 

 wild and rural beauty. 



Pontiac, the Satan of this forest paradise, was 

 accustomed to spend the early part of the summer 

 upon a small island at the opening of the Lake St. 

 Clair, hidden from view by the high woods that 

 covered the intervening Isle au Cochon.^ " The 

 king and lord of all this country," as Rogers calls 

 him, lived in no royal state. His cabin was a 

 small, oven-shaped structure of bark and rushes. 

 Here he dwelt, with his squaws and children ; and 

 here, doubtless, he might often have been seen, 

 lounging, half-naked, on a rush mat, or a bear- 

 skin, like any ordinary warrior. We may fancy 

 the current of his thoughts, the turmoil of his 

 uncurbed passions, as he revolved the treacheries 

 w^hich, to his savage mind, seemed fair and honor- 

 able. At one moment, his fierce heart would burn 

 with the anticipation of vengeance on the detested 

 English ; at another, he would meditate how he 

 best might turn the approaching tumults to the 

 furtherance of his own ambitious schemes. Yet 

 we may believe that Pontiac was not a stranger to 

 the high emotion of the patriot hero, the champion 

 not merely of his nation's rights, but of the very 

 existence of his race. He did not dream how 

 desperate a game he was about to play. He 



1 Tradition, communicated to H. R. Schoolcraft, Esq., hy Henry Con- 

 ner, formerly Indian interpreter at Detroit. 



