1764.] ENGLISH ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 269 



him concerning the temper of the Indians. The 

 latter, elated beyond measure by their success 

 against Loftus, and excited, moreover, by the mes- 

 sages and war-belt of Pontiac, were in a state of 

 angry commotion, which made the passage too 

 hazardous to be attempted. Pittman bethought 

 himself of assuming the disguise of a Frenchman, 

 joining a party of Creole traders, and thus reach- 

 ing his destination by stealth ; but, weighing the 

 risk of detection, he abandoned this design also, 

 and returned to Mobile.^ Between the Illinois 

 and the settlements around New Orleans, the Mis- 

 sissippi extended its enormous length through 

 solitudes of marsh and forest, broken here and 

 there by a squalid Indian village ; or, at vast inter- 

 vals, by one or two military posts, erected by the 

 French, and forming the resting-places of the voy- 

 ager. After the failure of Pittman, more than a 

 year elapsed before an English detachment could 

 succeed in passing this great thoroughfare of the 

 wilderness, and running the gauntlet of the savage 

 tribes who guarded its shores. It was not till the 

 second of December, 1765, that Major Farmar, at 

 the head of a strong body of troops, arrived, after 

 an uninterrupted voyage, at Fort Chartres, where 

 the flag of his country had already supplanted the 

 standard of France.^ 



To return to our immediate theme. The ambas- 

 sadors, whom Pontiac had sent from Fort Chartres 



1 MS. Correspondence of Pittman with M. D'Abbadie, among the Paria 

 Documents. 



2 MS. Letter— Campbell to Gage, Feb. 24, 1766. 



