-whoops, parties of the savages bounded
away on a murderous mission. Half a mile behind the fort
an English woman, Mrs Turnbull, and her two sons cultivated
a small farm. All three were straightway slain. A party
of Ottawas leapt into their canoes and paddled swiftly
to Ile au Cochon, where lived a former sergeant, James
Fisher. Fisher was seized, killed, and scalped, his young
wife brutally murdered, and their two little children
carried into captivity. On this same day news was brought
to the fort that Sir Robert Davers and Captain Robertson
had been murdered three days before on Lake St Clair by,
Chippewas who were on their way from Saginaw to join
Pontiac's forces. Thus began the Pontiac War in the
vicinity of Detroit. For several months the garrison was
to know little rest.

That night at the Ottawa village arose the hideous din
of the war-dance, and while the warriors worked themselves
into a frenzy the squaws were busy breaking camp. Before
daylight the village was moved to the opposite side of
the river, and the wigwams were pitched near the mouth
of Parent's Creek, about a mile and a half above the
fort. On the morning of the 10th the siege began in
earnest. Shortly after daybreak the yells of a horde of
savages could be heard north and south and west. But few
of the enemy could be seen, as they had excellent shelter
behind barns, outhouses, and fences. For six hours they
kept up a continuous fire on the garrison, but wounded
only five men. The fort vigorously returned the fire,
and none of the enemy dared attempt to rush the palisades.
A cluster of buildings in the rear sheltered a particularly
ferocious set of savages. A three-pounder--the only
effective artillery in the fort--was trained on this
position; spikes were bound together with wire, heated
red-hot, and fired at the buildings. These were soon a
mass of flames, and the savages concealed behind them
fled for their lives.

Presently the Indians grew tired of this useless warfare
and withdrew to their villages. Gladwyn, thinking that
he might bring Pontiac to terms, sent La Butte to ask
the cause of the attack and to say that the British were
ready to redress any wrongs from which the Indians might
be suffering. La Butte was accompanied by Jean Baptiste
Chapoton, a captain of the militia and a man of some
importance in the fort, and Jacques Godfroy, a trader
and likewise an officer of militia. It may be noted that
Godfroy's wife was the daught