notwithstanding the fact that when he was first introduced at Court he
declined to kiss His Majesty's hand; adding, however, with delightful
_naivete_, that he would gladly kiss the hand of the Queen. The Prince of
Wales also took great delight in his company, and occasionally took him to
places of questionable repute--or rather, to places as to the disrepute
of which there was no question whatever, and which were pronounced by
the Chief "to be very queer places for a prince to go to." His envoy was
successful, and his stay in London, which was prolonged for some months,
must have been very agreeable, as "he was caressed by the noble and great,
and was alike welcome at Court and at the banquets of the heir-apparent."
After his return to America his first act of historical importance was to
attend the great Council of the Indian Confederacy in the far west. He used
his best endeavours to preserve peace between the Western Indians and the
United States, and steadily opposed the confederation which led to the
expedition of Generals St. Clair and Wayne. We next find him engaged in
settling his people upon the tract which had been granted to them on the
banks of the Grand River. The principal settlement of the Mohawks was
near the bend of the river, just below the present site of the city of
Brantford. They called the settlement "Mohawk Village." The name still
survives, but all traces of the village itself have disappeared. Brant
built the little church which still stands there, an illustration of which
is given above, and in which service has been held almost continuously
every Sunday since its bell first awoke the echoes of the Canadian forest.
Brant himself took up his abode in the neighbourhood for several years,
and did his best to bring his dusky subjects under the influence of
civilization. In order to facilitate his passage across the Grand River he
threw a sort of temporary boom across, at a spot a few yards below where
the iron-bridge now spans the stream at Brantford. From this circumstance
the place came to be known as "Brant's ford;" and when, years afterwards, a
village sprung up close by, the name of "Brantford" was given to it.