and, as at the council at the river Ecorces, in a torrent
of words and with vehement gestures, denounced the British.
He declared that under the new occupancy of the forts in
the Indian country the red men were neglected and their
wants were no longer supplied as they had been in the
days of the French; that exorbitant prices were charged
by the traders for goods; that when the Indians were
departing for their winter camps to hunt for furs they
were no longer able to obtain ammunition and clothing on
credit; and, finally, that the British desired the death
of the Indians, and it was therefore necessary as an act
of self-preservation to destroy them. He once more
displayed the war-belt that he pretended to have received
from the king of France. This belt told him to strike in
his own interest and in the interest of the French. He
closed his speech by saying that he had sent belts to
the Chippewas of Saginaw and the Ottawas of Michilimackinac
and of the river La Tranche (the Thames). Seeing that
his words were greeted with grunts and shouts of approval
and that the assembled warriors were with him to a man,
Pontiac revealed a plan he had formed to seize the fort
and slaughter the garrison. He and some fifty chiefs and
warriors would wait on Gladwyn on the pretence of discussing
matters of importance. Each one would carry beneath his
blanket a gun, with the barrel cut short to permit of
concealment. Warriors and even women were to enter the
fort as if on a friendly visit and take up positions of
advantage in the streets, in readiness to strike with
tomahawks, knives, and guns, all which they were to have
concealed beneath their blankets. At the council Pontiac