he took the stage to Boston. From Boston he proceeded to Washington's
headquarters, giving New York, which was then in possession of the
British, a wide berth. He dined with Washington, and talked over the
situation. On the 4th of January he was introduced to the Continental
Congress, where he made a full statement of matters in Nova Scotia.

After some deliberation, Congress appointed him Superintendent of the
Eastern Indians and a colonel of infantry. He received his instructions
from Hon. John Hancock, and left at once for Boston. While there he
urged upon the members in council the necessity of protecting the
eastern part of Maine, and showed the advantage it would be to the
rebels if, by sending out an armed force, they could take possession of
the western part of Nova Scotia. This the Council promised to do.

After giving this advice, Allan himself set out to show what could be
done by raiding the loyal settlers on the River St. John. This
expedition was not very successful, and Colonel Allan was glad to get
back to Maine, and take up the duties of his new position as
Superintendent of the Eastern Indians. He made Machias his
headquarters, and to the end of his life, which came in the year 1805,
he remained a resident of the State of Maine.

Beamish Murdoch, the historian of Nova Scotia, in a letter to a
relative of Colonel John Allan, says: "If the traditions I have heard
about John Allan are correct, he could not have been much over twenty-
one years old in 1775. As he had no New England ancestors, his escapade
must be attributed to ambition, romance, or pure zeal for what he
thought was just and right. For the feelings against the Crown in Nova
Scotia in 1775 were confined to the Acadian French, who resented the
conquest, the Indians who were attached to them by habit and creed, and