CHAPTER XII. 



1763. 

 PONTIAC AT THE SIEGE OF DETROIT. 



On the morning after the detention of the offi- 

 cers, Pontiac crossed over, with several of his chiefs, 

 to the Wyandot village. A part of this tribe, influ- 

 enced by Father Pothier, their Jesuit priest, had 

 refused to take up arms against the English ; but, 

 being now threatened with destruction if they should 

 longer remain neutral, they were forced to join 

 the rest. They stipulated, however, that they 

 should be allowed time to hear mass, before dan- 

 cing the war-dance.^ To this condition Pontiac 

 readily agreed, " although," observes the chronicler 

 in the fulness of his horror and detestation, " he 

 himself had no manner of worship, and cared not 

 for festivals or Sundays." These nominal Christians 

 of Father Pothier's flock, together with the other 

 Wyandots, soon distinguished themselves in the 

 war ; fighting better, it was said, than all the other 

 Indians, — an instance of the marked superiority 

 of the Iroquois over the xllgonquin stock. 



Having secured these new allies, Pontiac pre- 



1 Pontiac MS. 



