218 DETROIT. [1763, Mat. 



hourly flattered himself with the futile hope of 

 aid from France, and thought in his ignorance that 

 the British colonies must give way before the rush 

 of his savage warriors ; when, in truth, all the 

 combined tribes of the forest might have chafed in 

 vain rage against the rock-hke strength of the 

 Anglo-Saxon. 



Looking across an intervening arm of the river, 

 Pontiac could see on its eastern bank the numerous 

 lodges of his Ottawa tribesmen, half hidden among 

 the ragged growth of trees and bushes. On the 

 afternoon of the fifth of May, a Canadian woman, 

 the wife of St. Aubin, one of the principal settlers, 

 crossed over from the western side, and visited the 

 Ottawa village, to obtain from the Indians a supply 

 of maple sugar and venison. She was surprised at 

 finding several of the warriors engaged in filing 

 off the muzzles of their guns, so as to reduce them, 

 stock and all, to the length of about a yard. Re- 

 turning home in the evening, she mentioned what 

 she had seen to several of her neighbors. Upon 

 this, one of them, the blacksmith of the village, 

 remarked that many of the Indians had lately 

 visited his shop, and attempted to borrow files 

 and saws for a purpose which they would not 

 explain.^ These circumstances excited the suspi- 

 cion of the experienced Canadians. Doubtless 

 there were many in the settlement who might, had 

 they chosen, have revealed the plot ; but it is no 

 less certain that the more numerous and respectable 



1 St. Aubin' s Account, MS. See Appendix, C. 



