1765.] PONTIAC'S HOPES DESTROYED. 287 



serve the interests of his enemies. He descended 

 to the river bank with a body of his warriors ; and 

 as La Garantais, the Frenchman, landed, he seized 

 him and his men, flogged them severely, robbed 

 them of their cargo, and distributed the goods 

 with exemplary impartiality among his delighted 

 followers.^ 



Notwithstanding this good fortune, Pontiac daily 

 saw his followers dropping ofl" from their allegi- 

 ance ; for even the boldest had lost heart. Had 

 any thing been wanting to convince him of the 

 hopelessness of his cause, the report of his am- 

 bassadors returning from New Orleans would have 

 banished every doubt. No record of his interview 

 with them remains ; but it is easy to conceive with 

 what chagrin he must have learned that the officer 

 of France first in rank in all America had refused 

 to aid him, and urged the timid counsels of peace. 

 The vanity of those expectations, which had been 

 the mainspring of his enterprise, now rose clear 

 and palpable before him ; and, with rage and bit- 

 terness, he saw the rotten foundation of his hopes 

 sinking into dust, and the whole structure of his 

 plot crumbling in ruins about him. 



All was lost. His allies were falling ofl", his fol- 

 lowers deserting him. To hold out longer would 

 be destruction, and to fly was scarcely an easier 

 task. In the south lay the Cherokees, hereditary 

 enemies of his people. In the west were the 

 Osages and Missouries, treacherous and uncertain 

 friends, and the fierce and jealous Dahcotah. In 



1 MS. Letter— Aubry to the Minister, 10 July, 1765. 



