flock--spoke in similar terms. Every warrior present
shouted his readiness to go to war, and before the council
broke up it was agreed that in four days Pontiac 'should
go to the fort with his young men for a peace dance' in
order to get information regarding the strength of the
place. The blow must be struck before the spring boats
arrived from the Niagara with supplies and additional
troops. The council at an end, the different tribes
scattered to their several summer villages, seemingly
peaceful Indians who had gathered together for trade.

CHAPTER IV

THE SIEGE OF DETROIT

At the time of the Pontiac outbreak there were in the
vicinity of Fort Detroit between one thousand and two
thousand white inhabitants. Yet the place was little more
than a wilderness post. The settlers were cut off from
civilization and learned news of the great world outside
only in the spring, when the traders' boats came with
supplies. They were out of touch with Montreal and Quebec,
and it was difficult for them to realize that they were
subjects of the hated king of England. They had not lost
their confidence that the armies of France would yet be
victorious and sweep the British from the Great Lakes,
and in this opinion they were strengthened by traders
from the Mississippi, who came among them. But the change
of rulers had made little difference in their lives. The
majority of them were employed by traders, and the better
class contentedly cultivated their narrow farms and traded
with the Indians who periodically visited them.

The settlement was widely scattered, extending along the
east shore of the Detroit river for about eight miles
from Lake St Clair, and along the west shore for about
six miles, four above and two below the fort. On either
side of the river the fertile fields and the long row of
whitewashed, low-built houses, with their gardens and
orchards of apple and pear trees, fenced about with
rounded pickets, presented a picture of peace and plenty.
The summers of the inhabitants were enlivened by the
visits of the Indians and the traders; and in winter they
light-heartedly whiled away the tedious hours with gossip
and dance and feast, like the habitants along the Richelieu
and the St Lawrence.

The militia of the settlement, as we have seen, had been
deprived of their arms at the taking over of Detroit by
Robert Rogers; and for the most part the settlers maintained
a stolid attitude towards their conquero