Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/327

 dii Account of the Choktah Nattoft* 3 15

infwamp, and he fired his blood to fuch a degree, that a few years after this, when on a vifit to our Englifh fettlements, he died at Augufta with this ailment. It is needful to mention thofe well-known circumftances, as the following relation of facts, depends in a confiderable meafure on them.

We three agreed to fend fome prefents to Red Shoes, with a formal fpeech, defiring him to accept them with a kind heart, and make hands with us as became brothers, according to the old beloved fpeech. Their own friendly meflages, and treaties of peace, are always accompanied with fo many forts of prefents, as their chiefs number. We in a few days packed up a fufficient quantity, to bury the tomohawk which the French had thruft into tHeir unwilling hands, and to dry up the tears of the injured, and fet their hearts at eafe, for the time to come, by joining with the Englifli and their old friendly Chikkafah, Inggona Sekanoopa toochenafe^ " in the triple knot of friendmip," in order to cut off the dangerous fnake's head, and ut terly deftroy the power of its forked tongue. As our real grievances were mutually the fame, and numerous, we gave liberally. Having every thing as well concerted for the embafly, as fuch occafions require, my two red friends fent a trufty mefTenger for a couple of the forefaid neu tral Indians, who had been a few days in the Chikkafah country, to accompany him late at night to my trading houfe. They readily obeyed ; and, as the good-natured men and their families, through friendmip to us, muft infallibly have been facrificed to French policy, if we failed of fuc- cefs, or they were difcovered by captives, or any other means, we ufed the greateft fecrefy, and placed a centinel to keep off all other perfons dur ing our private congrefs. After we had converfed with them a confiderable time, on the neceffity of the propofed attempt, and the certainty of fucceed- ing in it, we opened our two large budgets, and read over the ftrong em blematical contents, according to their idiom, till we gave them a tru impreflion of the whole. The next day we took care to fend them off well plealed : and as feveral material circumftances confpired to afllire us they \vould faithfully discharge the office of truft, which we repofed in them, we in a (hort time had the fatisfaftion to hear by other private runners of their countrymen, from our brave and generous patron, Red Shoes, that they were fo far from breaking the public faith, that they read to him every material head of our embafTy, and urged it with all their powers,

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