it known that he was across the river from the fort, than two French officers came over and demanded that he be delivered up to them. But his Indian friends told the officers that they had brought him there in order that all the Indians might see him and hear what he had to say, and that under no circumstances would they suffer him to be taken into the fort. Post also learned from these Indians, that the French had offered a large reward for his scalp and that several parties were then out for the purpose of securing it. He says whimsically, "Accordingly, I stuck constantly as close to the fire as if I had been chained there." The next day he delivered his message.
It was something unique in history, that conference by the riverside in sight of the enemy's stronghold. Post stood in the middle of the great throng. Across the river was the square wooden fort with the French flag flying above one of its bastions. From the rude log huts and the ruder bark shelters of the Indians, in the rear of the fortress, smoke was ascending from half a hundred chimneys. On the river bank were hundreds of Canadians picturesquely clad in fringed hunting skirts and fur caps, lounging about, or unloading the bateaux and canoes which had brought them down the river the afternoon before.
On the wide plain stood the black-robed, beardless missionary. A hundred yards to the north in the shade of the huge sycamore trees was his camp; here the horses were picketed. Surrounding him on every side was a motley crew of some three hundred Indians, resplendent in colors, some in war paint and feathers, and scarcely half clad, all wearing their lightest summer apparel. In the canoes, beached on the bank, sat a number of squaws and half-grown boys. Several French officers, in white uniforms with blue facings, their three-cornered black hats drawn down over their brows, watched the meeting with anxious eyes. Other officers were seated about a table which had been brought over from the fort, taking a report of the proceedings. Post says, "I spoke with a free conscience and perceived by the looks of the French that they were not pleased with what I said." The speech was full of homely phrases and imagery dear to Indian ears. He pleaded with his auditors for peace, for brotherly love and friendship with the English. The value of wampum was not forgotten, for at every pause in his speech he held up "a string" or "a belt," or "a belt of eleven rows" or a "belt of seven rows," or "a large peace belt."
At the conclusion of the address, the Delawares pro-
8
