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208 him to the governor. I desired him to call at my lodgings, and in the mean time I wrote down the circumstances he had related to me, that I might be prepared, in case I was sent for at a short notice.

A few days after he explained to me more fully the nature of his claim, and how he had been trifled with by Congress. I asked him his reasons for engaging in the American service; he told me that at the commencement of the war, the Big Knives (meaning the Americans), had advised him to turn his heart from the English, and promised to supply all his {170} wants; and, as an additional inducement, that they would pay a better price for a scalp than had been usually given, and at the close of the war he should have land and stock sufficient to maintain himself and family: but he was now convinced they only meant to serve themselves, as he had frequently applied for a performance of their promises without success; and that he was determined to get satisfaction some way or other.

I told him I was not sorry for his disappointments; that he was a bad Indian for deserting his good father, who lived on the other side the great water, and who was universally beloved by all who knew him, particularly by the Loretto nation; and as the subjects of this great and good father lived near his village, and gave every proof of their love and friendship to his nation, which he could not be ignorant of, I was surprized that he should suffer his heart to be moved by the changeable winds, and was sorry to add, that I believed he was the only Loretto Indian with two minds, and therefore I was unwilling to say any thing in his behalf before Congress.

These remarks on his conduct seemed to affect him,