264 PONTIAC IN THE WEST. [1764. 



It does not appear that, on this occasion, he had 

 any farther success in firing the hearts of the Illi- 

 nois. He presently returned to his camp on the 

 Maumee, where, by a succession of ill-tidings, he 

 learned the humiliation of his allies, and the tri- 

 umph of his enemies. Towards the close of 

 autumn, he again left the Maumee ; and, followed 

 by four hundred warriors, journeyed westward, to 

 visit in succession the different tribes, and gain their 

 co-operation in his plans of final defence. Cross- 

 ing over to the Wabash, he passed from village to 

 village, among the Kickapoos, the Piankishaws, 

 and the three tribes of the Miamis, rousing them 

 by his imperious eloquence, and breathing into 

 them his own fierce spirit of resistance. Thence, 

 by rapid marches through forests and over prairies, 

 he reached the banks of the Mississippi, and sum- 

 moned the four tribes of the Illinois to a general 

 meeting. But these degenerate savages, beaten by 

 the surrounding tribes for many a generation past, 

 had lost their warlike spirit ; and, though abun- 

 dantly noisy and boastful, showed no zeal for fight, 

 and entered with no zest into the schemes of the 

 Ottawa war-chief. Pontiac had his own way of 

 dealing with such spirits. " If you hesitate," he 

 exclaimed, frowning on the cowering assembly, " I 

 will consume your tribes as the fire consumes the 

 dry grass on the prairie." The doubts of the Illi- 

 nois vanished like the mist, and with marvellous 

 alacrity they declared their concurrence in the 

 views of the orator. Having secured these allies, 

 such as they were, Pontiac departed, and hastened 

 to Fort Chartres. St. Ange, so long tormented 



