Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/256

 244 ^ n Account of the Cheerake Nation.

the fake of the imagined general good of the country, their conftancy enabled them to ufe that difguife a long time, in contempt of the Englifh, till habit changed into a real hatred of the object, what before was only fictitious. They correfponded with the French in the name of thcrfe feven towns, which are the mod warlike part of .the nation: and they were fo flrongly prepoffeflfed with the notions their beloved fecretary had infufed. into their heads, in that early weak date of Louifiana, that they had re- folved to remove, and fettle fo low down their river, as the French boats could readily bring them a fupply. But the hot war they fell into with the northern Indians, made them poftpone the execution of that favourite de- fign i and the fettling of Fort London, quieted, them a little, as they expected to get prefents, and fpirituous liquors there, according to the manner of the French promifes, of which they had great plenty.

The French, to draw off the weftern towns, had given them repeated aflurances of fettling a ftrong garrifon on the north fide "of their river, as high up as their large pettiaugres could be brought with fafety, where there was a large tract of rich lands abounding with game and fowl, and the river with fifh. They at the fame time promifed to procure a firm- peace between the Cheerake and all the Indian nations depending on the French -, and to beftov/ on them powder, bullets, flints, knives, fciflars,, combs, fhirts, looking glafies, and red paint, befide favourite trifles to the fair fex: in the fame brotherly manner the Alebahma French ex tended their kindly hands to their Mufkohge brethren. By their affiduous endeavours, that artful plan was well fupported, and though the fituation of our affairs, in the remote, and leading Cheerake towns, had been in a ticklifti fituation, from the time their project of an empire was formed ; and though feveral other towns became uneafy and difcontented on fun- dry pretexts, for the fpace of two years before the unlucky occafion of the fucceeding war happened yet his excellency our governor neglected the proper meafures to reconcile the wavering favages, till the gentleman who was appointed to fucceed him, had juft reached the American coaft : then, indeed, he fet off, with a confiderable number of gentlemen, in flourifliing parade, and went as far as Ninety- fix * fettlement ; from whence, as moft probably he expected, he was fortunately recalled, and joyfully fuperfeded. I faw him on his way up, and plainly obferved he was unprovided for the journey ; it muft unavoidably have proved abortive


 * So called from ics diftance of miles from the Cheerake.

before

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