deer upon the banks, and flocks of wild turkeys,
and such numbers of ducks and geese upon the river, he had never seen
before. The canoe was loaded with game.

It was on this trip, also, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, that
Washington met the old sachem "who lay in ambush on the banks of the
Monongahela, and wrought such havoc in Braddock's army." The Indian
chief came to honor Washington, accompanied with other warriors. After
formal introduction, he addressed him thus, through Nicholson the
interpreter:

"I am a chief, and the ruler over many tribes. My influence extends to
the waters of the great lakes, and to the far blue mountains. I have
travelled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of
the great battle. It was on the day when the white man's blood mixed
with the streams of our forest that I first beheld this chief; I called
to my young men and said, "Mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not
of the red-coat tribe: he hath an Indian's wisdom, and his warriors
fight as we do; himself is alone exposed. Quick, let your aim be certain
and he dies." Our rifles were levelled, rifles which, but for him, knew
not how to miss. 'Twas all in vain; a power mightier far than we
shielded him from harm. He cannot die in battle. I am old, and soon
shall be gathered to the great council-fire of my fathers, in the land
of shades; but ere I go, there is a something bids me speak in the voice
of prophecy. Listen! _The Great Spirit protects that man, and guides his
destinies. He will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn
will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire!_"

Washington successfully accomplished the object of his mission, and in
the end his old companions in arms received their just dues. "Fifteen
thousand acres were awarded to a field officer, nine thousand to a
captain, six thousand to a subaltern, and so on." Stobo and Van Braam,
who were with him at Great Meadows, received nine thousand acres
apiece. They were in London at the time, and subsequently Washington
purchased their claims through his London agent.

How perilous his journey was at the time may be inferred from the fact
that soon after his return there was another Indian outbreak on the
banks of the Great Kanawha, whither Washington went, and in the
engagement Colonel Lewis and other Virginians lost their lives.

The Virginia Assembly was in session when the Boston Port Bill took
effect, and the members voted to ma