depended greatly upon the trade of the very Indians now rendered unable to carry on commerce by reason of the war. It was m the power of the military at any time to have prevented the communication existing between these women, who picked up all sorts of stories in their intercourse with low white men and the Indians in the lava beds, had they chosen, simply by sending them to their people with orders to remain there until Jack surrendered. That this was not done was a military blunder. On the other hand, the peace commission, which was military in its feelings, being desirous of establishing the character of the government for magnaminity, encouraged the Modocs while still avoiding hostility to send small parties almost daily to headquarters, where they could observe all that was going on, and where they were sure to hear from those who were most likel}' to seek their society anything and everything. These blunders were the direct cause of the fear which, if any, possessed the Indians, which fear was therefore chargeable to those conducting the peace commission, and not to any other persons. Above all, the authorities at Washington, who had set their hearts upon the success of a doubtful experiment, by insisting upon j)acific measures wdien these measures had been persistently rejected by armed savages, possessed of considerable knowledge of the government, were responsible for the present condition of affairs.
So far was this infatuation carried, that on receiving Canby's telegram saying that Jack still wished to return to Lost river, Delano instructed the general not to require that any of the propositions heretofore made should be accepted, but if the Modocs insisted on not going elsewhere, to allow them a reservation on Lost river; and if they were opposed to the surrender of the offending warriors, not . to insist upon that, but to include them also in the amnesty.
From the 26th to the 1st of April nothing occurred
