17G4, Aug.] PRETENDED EMBASSY. 177 



dieted by the fact that they brought with them but 

 one small belt of wampum ; a pledge no less indis- 

 pensable in a treaty with these tribes than seals 

 and signatures in a convention of European sover- 

 eigns.' Ih'adstreet knew, or ought to have known, 

 tlie character of the treacherous enemy with whom 

 he had to deal. He knew that the Shawanocs and 

 Delaw^ares had shown, throughout the war, a fero- 

 cious and relentless hostility ; that they had sent an 

 insolent message to Niagara ; and, finally, tliat in 

 his own instructions he was enjoined to deal sternly 

 with them, and not be duped by pretended over- 

 tures. Yet, in spite of the suspicious character 

 of the self-styled deputies, in spite of the sullen 

 wrath of his Indian allies, and the murmured 

 dissent of his officers, he listened to their proposals, 

 and entered into a preliminary treaty. He pledged 

 himself to refrain from attacking the Delawares 

 and Shawanoes, on condition that within twenty-five 

 days the deputies should again meet him at San- 

 dusky, in order to yield up their prisoners, and 

 conclude a definite treaty of peace. ^ It afterwards 

 appeared — and this, indeed, might have been 

 suspected at the time — that the sole object of 



1 Every article in a treaty must be confirmed by a belt of wampum ; 

 otherwise it is void. Mante, the historian of the French war, asserts that 

 they brought four belts. But this is contradicted in contemporary letters, 

 including several of General Gage and Sir William Johnson. Mante 

 accompanied Bradstreet's expedition with the rank of major ; and he is a 

 zealous advocate of his commander, wliom he seeks to defend, at the 

 expense both of Colonel Bouquet and General Gage. 



2 Preliminary Treaty between Colonel Bradstreet and the Deputies of the 

 Delawares and Shawanoes, concluded at L'Ance aux Feuilles, on Lake Erie, 

 August 12, 1764, MS. 



VOL. II. 12 



