ndagos
hastened to comply.

Fully accustomed to such ceremonies, Joncaire sat in the council calmly
listening to the speeches of its orators, and at length arose for his
own reply. "Brothers," said he, "I have here"--and he drew from his
tunic a copy of the decree of Louis XIV declaring peace between the
French and the English colonies--"a talking paper. This is the will of
Onontio, whom you love and fear, and it is the will of the great father
across the water, whom Onontio loves and fears. This talking paper says
that our young men of the French colonies are no longer to go to war
against Corlaer. The hatchet has been buried by the two great fathers.
Brothers, I have come to tell you that it is time for the Iroquois also
to bury the hatchet, and to place upon it heavy stones, so that it
never again can be dug up.

"Brothers, as you know, the great canoes from across the sea are
bringing more and more white men. Look about you, and tell me where are
your fathers and your brothers and your sons? Half your fighting men are
gone; and if you turn to the West to seek out strong young men from the
other tribes, which of them will come to sit by your fires and be your
brothers? The war trails of the Nations have gone to the West as far as
the Great River. All the country has been at war. The friends of Onontio
beyond Michilimackinac have been so busy fighting that they have
forgotten to take the beaver, or if they have taken it, they have been
afraid to bring it down the water trail to us, lest the Iroquois or the
English should rob them.

"Brothers, a great peace is now declared. Onontio, the father of all the
red men, has taken the promises of his children, the Hurons, the
Algonquins, the Miamis, the Illini, the Outagamies, the Ojibways, all
those peoples who live to the west, that they will follow the war trail
no more. Next summer there will be a great council. Onontio and Corlaer
have agreed to call the tribes to meet at the Mountain in the St.
Lawrence. Onontio says to you that he will give you back your prisoners,
and now he demands that you in return give back those whom you may have
with you. This is his will; and if you fail him, you know how heavy is
his hand.

"Brothers, I see that you have prisoners here, white prisoners. These
must be given up to us. I will take them with me when I return. For your
Indian captives, it is the will of Onontio that you bring them all to
the Great Peace in the summer, and that