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



prisoners, and the preservation of friendship for 

 the future. 



Councils were next held, in turn, with each of 

 the various tribes assembled around the fort, some 

 of whom craved forgiveness for the hostile acts 

 they had committed, and deprecated the vengeance 

 of the English ; while others alleged their inno- 

 cence, urged their extreme wants and necessities, 

 and begged that English traders might once more 

 be allowed to visit them. The council-room in 

 the fort was crowded from morning till night ; and 

 the wearisome formalities of such occasions, the 

 speeches made and replied to, and the final shak- 

 ing of hands, smoking of pipes, and serving out 

 of whiskey, engrossed the time of the superintend- 

 ent for many successive days. 



Among the Indians present were a band of Otta- 

 was from Michillimackinac, and remoter settle- 

 ments, beyond Lake Michigan, and a band of 

 Menomonies from Green Bay. The former, it will 

 be remembered, had done good service to the Eng- 

 lish, by rescuing the survivors of the garrison of 

 Michillimackinac from the clutches of the Ojibwas ; 

 and the latter had deserved no less at their hands, 

 by the protection they had extended to Lieutenant 

 Gorell, and the garrison at Green Bay. Conscious 

 of their merits, they had come to Niagara in full 

 confidence of a favorable reception. Nor were 

 they disappointed ; for Johnson met them with a 

 cordial welcome, and greeted them as friends and 

 brothers. They, on their part, were not wanting 

 in expressions of pleasure ; and one of their orators 



