1764.} HE VISITS ST. ANGE. 265 



with embassy after embassy, and mob after mob, 

 thought that the crowning evil was come at last, 

 when he saw the arch-demon Pontiac enter at the 

 gate, with four hundred warriors at his back, 

 xirrived at the council-house, Pontiac addressed the 

 commandant in a tone of great courtesy : " Father, 

 we have long wished to see you, to shake hands 

 with you, and, whilst smoking the calumet of 

 peace, to recall the battles in which we fought 

 together against the misguided Indians and the 

 English dogs. I love the French, and I have come 

 hither with my warriors to avenge their wrongs." ^ 

 Then followed a demand for arms, ammunition, and 

 troops, to act in concert with the Indian warriors. 

 St. Ange w^as forced to decline rendering the 

 expected aid ; but he sw^eetened his denial with 

 soothing compliments, and added a few gifts, to 

 remove any lingering bitterness. Pontiac would 

 not be appeased. He angrily complained of such 

 lukewarm friendship, where he had looked for 

 ready sympathy and support. His w^arriors pitched 

 their lodges about the fort, and threatening symp- 

 toms of an approaching rupture began to alarm 

 the French. 



In the mean time, Pontiac had caused his squaws 

 to construct a belt of wampum of extraordinary 

 size, six feet in length, and four inches wide. It 

 was wrought from end to end with the symbols of 

 the various tribes and villages, forty-seven in num- 



1 Nicollet, Report on the Basin of the Upper Mississippi, 81. M. Nicollet's 

 account is given on the authority of documents and oral narratives derived 

 from Chouteau, Menard, and other patriarchs of the Illinois. 



