10th. A great many of the Indians got drunk; one Henry Noland had brought near 30 Gallons of Whiskey to the Town. This Day I made a Present to the old Shawonese Chief Cackawatcheky, of a Stroud, a Blanket, a Match Coat,[28] a Shirt, a Pair of Stockings, & a large twist of Tobacco, & told him that the President & Council of Philadelphia remember’d their love to him as to their old & true Friend, & wou’d Cloath his Body once more, & wished he might weare them out so as to give them an opportunity to cloath him again. There was a great many Indians present, two of which were the big Hominy & the Pride, those that went off with Chartier, but protested against his proceedings against our Traders. Catchawatcheky return’d thanks, & some of the Six Nations did the same, & express’d their Satisfaction to see a true man taken Notice of, altho’ he was now grown Childish.
11th. George Croghan & myself staved an 8 Gallon Cag of Liquor belonging to the aforesaid Henry Norland, who could not be prevail’d on to hide it in the Woods, but would sell it & get drunk himselfe.
I desir’d some of the Indians in Council to send some of their Young Men to meet our People with the Goods, and not to come back before they heard of or saw them. I begun to be afraid they had fallen into the Hands of the Enemy; so did the Indians.
Ten Warriors came to Town by Water from Niagara; We suspected them very much, & fear’d that some of their Parties went to meet our People by hearing of them.[29]
12th. Two Indians and a white man[30] went out to meet our People, & had Orders not to come back before they saw them, or go to Franks Town, where we left the Goods. The same Day the Indians made answer to my Request concerning the Prisoners taken in Carolina: Thanayieson, a Speaker of the Senekas, spoke to the following purpose in the presence of all the Deputies of the other Nations (We were out of Doors): “Brethren, You came a great way to visit us, & many sorts of Evils might have befallen You by the way which might have been hurtful to your Eyes & your inward parts, for the Woods are full of Evil Spirits. We give You this String of Wampum to clear up your Eyes & Minds & to remove all bitterness of your Spirit, that you may hear us speak in good Chear.” Then the Speaker took his Belt in his Hand & said: “Brethren, when we and you first saw one another at your first arrival at Albany we shook Hands together and became Brethren & we tyed your Ship to the Bushes, and after we had more acquaintance with you we lov’d you more and more, & perceiving that a Bush wou’d not hold your Vessel we then tyed her to a large Tree & ever after good Friendship continued between us; afterwards you, our Brethren, told us that a Tree might happen to fall down and the Rope rot wherewith the Ship was tyed. You then proposed to make a Silver Chain & tye your Ship to the great Mountains in the five Nations’ Country, & that Chain was called the Chain of Friendship; we were all tyed by our Arms together with it, & we the Indians of the five Nations heartily agreed to it, & ever since a very good Correspondence have been kept between us; but we are very sorry that at your coming here we are oblig’d to talk of the Accident that lately befell you in Carolina, where some of our Warriors, by the Instigation of the Evil Spirit, struck their Hatchet into our own Body like, for our Brethren the English & we are of one Body, & what was done we utterly abhor as a thing done by the Evil Spirit himself; we never expected any of our People wou’d ever do so to our Brethren. We therefore remove our Hatchet which, by the influence of the Evil Spirit, was struck into your Body, and we desire that our Brethren the Govʳ. of New York & Onas[31] may use their utmost endeavours that the thing may be buried in the bottomless Pit, that it may never be seen again—that the Chain of Friendship which is of so long standing may be preserv’d bright & unhurt.” Gave a Belt. The Speaker then took up a String of Wampum, mostly black, and said: “Brethren, as we have removed our Hatchet out of your Body, or properly speaking, out of our own, We now desire that the Air may be clear’d up again & the wound given may be healed, & every thing put in good understanding, as it was before, and we desire you will assist us to make up everything with the Govʳ. of Carolina; the Man that has been brought as a Prisoner we now deliver to You, he is yours” (lay’d down the String, and took the Prisoner by the Hand and delivered him to me).[32] By way of discourse, the Speaker said, “the Six Nation Warriors often meet Englishmen trading to the Catawbas, & often found that the Englishmen betrayed them to their Enemy, & some of the English Traders had been spoke to by the Indian Speaker last Year in the Cherrykees[33] Country & were told not to do so; that the Speaker & many others of the Six Nations had been afraid a long time that such a thing wou’d be done by some of their Warriors at one time or other.”
13th. Had a Council with the Senekas and Onontagers about the Wandots, to receive them into our Union. I gave a large Belt of Wampum and the Indians gave two, & everything was agreed upon about what sho’d be said to the Wandots. The same Evening a full Council was appointed & met accordingly, & a Speech was made to the Wandots by Asserhartur, a Seneka, as follows:
“Brethren, the Ionontady Hagas:[34] last Spring you sent this Belt of Wampum to Us (having the Belt then in his hand) to desire us and our Brethren, the Shawonese & our Cousins the Delawares, to come & meet you in your retreat from the French, & we accordingly came to your Assistance & brought you here & received you as our own flesh. We desire you will think you now join us, & our Brethren, the English, & you are become one People with us”—then he lay’d that Belt by & gave them a very large String of Wampum.
The Speaker took up the Belt I gave & said: “Brethren: the English, our Brothers, bid you welcome & are glad you escaped out Captivity like: You have been kept as Slaves by Onontio,[35] notwithstanding he call’d You all along his Children, but now You have broke the Rope wherewith you have been tyed & become Freemen, & we, the united Six Nations, receive you to our Council Fire, & make you Members thereof, and we will secure your dwelling Place to You against all manner of danger.”—Gave the Belt.
“Brethren: We the Six United Nations & all our Indian Allies, with our Brethren the English, look upon you as our Children, tho’ you are our Brethren; we desire you will give no ear to the Evil Spirit that spreads lyes & wickedness, let your mind by easy & clear, & be of the same mind with us whatever you may hear, nothing shall befall you but what of necessity must befall us at the same time.