guides I sent you of the advantages of this route which is open, and needs very little in the way of repair; its drawbacks consist in the want of forage, its length, its defiles, and the crossing of rivers. Colonel Washington, who is animated with sincere zeal to contribute to the success of this expedition, and is ready to march wheresoever you may decide, writes me that, from all he has heard and from all the information he has been able to collect, our route is impracticable even for packhorses, so bad are the mountains, and that the Braddock road is the only one to take &c.
"There, my dear General, you have in brief the reports and opinions which have reached me; I will add no reflection of my own, hoping to see you every day. Do you not think it would be well to see Colonel Washington here, before making your decision? and if our parties continue to send favourable news, to convert him to give way to the evidence?"
In reply to Washington's letter of the twenty-fifth Bouquet wrote: "Nothing can exceed your generous dispositions for the service. I see with the utmost satisfac-
