28th.—We set out from Sawcunk, in company with twenty, for Kushkushkee; on the road Shingas addressed himself to me, and asked, if I did not think, that, if he came to the English, they would hang him, as they had offered a great reward for his head. He spoke in a very soft and easy manner. I told him that was a great while ago, it was all forgotten and wiped clean away; that the English would receive him very kindly. Then Daniel interrupted me, and said to Shingas, “Do not believe him, he tells nothing but idle lying stories. Wherefore did the English hire one thousand two hundred Indians[47] to kill us.” I protested it was false; he said, G—d d—n[48] you for a fool; did you not see the woman lying [in] the road that was killed by the Indians, that the English hired? I said, “Brother do consider how many thousand Indians the French have hired to kill the English, and how many they have killed along the frontiers.” Then Daniel said, “D—n you, why do not you and the French fight on the sea? You come here only to cheat the poor Indians, and take their land from them.” Then Shingas told him to be still; for he did not know what he said. We arrived at Kushkushkee before night, and I informed Pisquetumen of Daniel’s behaviour, at which he appeared sorry.
29th.—I dined with Shingas; he told me, though the English had set a great price on his head, he had never thought to revenge himself, but was always very kind to any prisoners that were brought in;[49] and that he assured the Governor, he would do all in his power to bring about an established peace, and wished he could be certain of the English being in earnest.
Then seven chiefs present said, when the Governor sends the next messenger, let him send two or three white men, at least, to confirm the thing, and not send such a man as Daniel; they did not understand him; he always speaks, said they, as if he was drunk; and if a great many of them had not known me, they should not know what to think; for every thing I said he contradicted. I assured them I would faithfully inform the Governor of what they said, and they should see, as messengers, other guise Indians than Daniel, for the time to come; and I farther informed them, that he was not sent by the Governor, but came on his own accord; and I would endeavour to prevent his coming back. Daniel demanded of me his pay, and I gave him three dollars; and he took as much wampum from me as he pleased, and would not suffer me to count it. I imagined there was about two thousand.
About night, nine Tawaas past by here, in their way to the French fort.
30th and 31st.—The Indians feasted greatly, during which time, I several times begged of them to consider and dispatch me.
September 1st.—Shingas, King Beaver, Delaware George, and Pisquetumen, with several other captains said to me,
“Brother, We have thought a great deal since God has brought you to us; and this is a matter of great consequence, which we cannot readily answer; we think on it, and will answer you as soon as we can. Our feast hinders us; all our young men, women and children are glad to see you; before you came, they all agreed together to go and join the French; but since they have seen you, they all draw back; though we have great reason to believe you intend to drive us away, and settle the country; or else, why do you come to fight in the land that God has given us?”
I said, we did not intend to take the land from them; but only to drive the French away. They said, they knew better; for that they were informed so by our greatest traders; and some Justices of the Peace had told them the same, and the French, said they, tell us much the same thing,—“that the English intend to destroy us, and take our lands;” but the land is ours, and not theirs; therefore, we say, if you will be at peace with us, we will send the French home. It is you that have begun the war, and it is necessary that you hold fast, and be not discouraged, in the work of peace. We love you more than you love us; for when we take any prisoners from you, we treat them as our own children. We are poor, and yet we clothe them as well as we can, though you see our children are as naked as at the first. By this you may see that our hearts are better than yours. It is plain that you white people are the cause of this war; why do not you and the French fight in the old country, and on the sea? Why do you come to fight on our land? This makes every body believe, you want to take the land from us by force, and settle it.[50]
I told them, “Brothers, as for my part, I have not one foot of land, nor do I desire to have any; and if I had any land, I had rather give it to you, than take any from you. Yes, brothers, if I die, you will get a little more land from me; for I shall then no longer walk on that ground, which God has made. We told you that you should keep nothing in your heart, but bring it before the council fire, and before the Governor, and his council; they will readily hear you; and I promise you, what they answer they will stand to. I further read to you what agreements they made about Wioming,[51] and they stand to them.”
They said, “Brother, your heart is good, you speak always sincerely; but we know there are always a great number of people that want to get rich; they never have enough; look, we do not want to be rich, and take away that which others have. God has given you the tame creatures; we do not want to take them from you. God has given to us the deer, and other wild creatures, which we must feed on; and we rejoice in that which springs out of the ground, and thank God for it. Look now, my brother, the white people think we have no brains in our heads; but that they are great and big, and that makes them make war with us: we are but a little handful to what you are; but remember, when you look for a wild turkey you cannot always find it, it is so little it hides itself under the bushes: and when you hunt for a rattle-snake, you cannot find it; and perhaps it will bite you before you see it. However, since you are so great and big, and we so little, do you use your greatness and strength in compleating this work of peace. This is the first time that we saw or heard of you, since the war begun, and we have great reason to think about it, since such a great body of you comes into our lands.[52] It is told us, that you and the French contrived the war, to waste the Indians between you; and that you and the French intended to divide the land between you: this was told us by the chief of the Indian traders; and they said further, brothers, this is the last time we shall come among you; for the French and the English intend to kill all the Indians, and then divide the land among themselves.”