168 BRADSTREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [1764, July. 



They set out, accordingly, for Niagara ; and 

 thither also numerous bands of warriors were tend- 

 ing, urged by similar messages, and encouraged, it 

 may be, by similar responses of their oracles. 

 Crossing fresh- water oceans in their birch canoes, 

 and threading the devious windings of solitary 

 streams, they came flocking to the common centre 

 of attraction. Such a concourse of savages has 

 seldom been seen in America. Menomonies, Otta- 

 was, Ojibwas, Mississaugas, from the north ; Caugh- 

 nawagas from Canada, even Wyandots from Detroit, 

 together with a host of Iroquois, were congregated 

 round Fort Niagara to the number of more than 

 two thousand warriors ; many of whom had 

 brought with them their women and children.^ 



having invoked a spirit in this manner, treacherously killed him with a 

 hatchet ; the mysterious visitant having assumed a visible and tangible 

 form, which exposed him to the incidents of mortality. During these 

 invocations, the lodge or tabernacle was always observed to shake vio- 

 lently to and fro, in a manner so remarkable as exceedingly to perplex 

 the observers. The variety of discordant sounds, uttered by the medicine 

 man, need not surprise us more than those accurate imitations of the 

 cries of various animals, to which Indian hunters are accustomed to train 

 their strong and flexible voices. 



1 MS. Johnson Papeis. 



The following extract from Henry's Travels will exhibit the feelings 

 with which the Indians came to the conference at Niagara, besides illus- 

 trating a curious feature of their superstitions. Many tribes, including 

 some widely differing in language and habits, regard the rattlesnake with 

 superstitious veneration ; looking upon him either as a manitou, or spirit, 

 or as a creature endowed with mystic powers and attributes, giving him 

 an influence over the fortunes of mankind. Henry accompanied his 

 Indian companions to Niagara ; and, on the way, he chanced to discover 

 one of these snakes near their encampment : — 



" The reptile was coiled, and its head raised considerably above its 

 body. Had I advanced another step before my discovery, I must have 

 trodden upon it. 



" I no sooner saw the snake, than I hastened to the canoe, in order to 

 procure my gun ; but the Indians, observing what I was doing, inquired 



