he did not keep them, but was ignorant of the Cause of their Stay; though I soon found it out:- He had promised them a present of Guns, &c., if they would wait 'till the morning.

"As I was very much press'd, by the Indians, to wait this Day, for them, I consented, on a Promise, That nothing should hinder them in the Morning.

"16th. The French were not slack in their Inventions to keep the Indians this Day also: But as they were obligated, according to Promise, to give the Present, they then endeavoured to try the Power of Liquor; which I doubt not would have prevailed at any other Time than this; But I urged and insisted with the King so closely upon his Word, that he refrained, and set off with us as he had engaged."

Under date of the 22d Gist makes this urbane entry:

"Set out. The creek began to be very low, and we were forced to get out, to keep our Canoe from oversetting, several times; the water freezing to our clothes; and we had the pleasure of seeing the French overset, and the brandy and wine floating in the creek, and run by them, and left them to shift for themselves."

The next day the Half-King found a reason for delay.

"As I found he intended to stay here a Day or two, and knew that Monsieur Joncaire would employ every Scheme to set him against the English as he had before done; I told him I hoped he would guard against Flattery, and let no fine Speeches influence him in their Favour."

The horses were now showing such signs of exhaustion, that all except the drivers proceeded on foot, Washington in a hunting dress. In a few days he became so uneasy to get back to the governor with his report, that he requested Gist to accompany him on a short cut on foot through

the woods.

"Indeed," says Gist, "I was unwilling he should undertake such a travel, who had never been used to walking before this time. But as he insisted on it, I set out with our packs, like Indians, and travelled eighteen miles. That night we lodged at an Indian cabin, and the major was much fatigued."

So frozen was everything, that they could scarcely find water to drink. The next day, near a place called Murdering Town, they met a savage who pretended to be friendly, and called Gist by his Indian name. The trader remembered him as one he had seen at the French fort, and as the major insisted on going the nearest way to the forks of the Allegheny, they asked the Indian to show the route. Washington's feet soon grew sore, and his body weary, and he wished to encamp. The Indian offered to carry his gun, and when the major refused, the savage grew churlish, and pressed the whites to proceed, on the plea of escaping hostile Indians. From various signs they soon mistrusted this red guide.

Suddenly the savage, walking only fifteen paces ahead, turned and fired.

"Are you shot?" asked Washington. 'No," replied Gist.

They rushed on the Indian, who was reloading behind a white oak. When they had captured him Gist wished to kill him, but Washington refused, and it was therefore necessary to watch him closely.

"As you will not have him killed," said Gist, "we must get away, and then we must travel all night."

The trader then turned to the Indian and pretended to believe that the gun went off by accident, adding: “Do you go home, and as we are very much tired, we will follow your track in the morning; and here is a cake of bread for you, and you must give us meat in the morning."

The Indian seemed glad to get off so easily. Gist followed and listened until he was fairly out of the way, and then returned for Washington, led him half a mile to a place where they built a fire, left it, travelled all night, and arrived in the morning at the head of Piney Creek. All that day also they pressed on without rest, down the creek, and just as night came on, they saw more Indian tracks. For greater security they separated after dark, appointing a place further on to meet. When they came together there they decided

that it was safe enough to encamp and sleep. Difficulties and dangers in plenty remained. Travelling all the next day, they reached a stream which they expected to find frozen. Instead, the ice was driving in vast quantities. With one poor hatchet they spent a whole day building a raft. Before they were halfway across, the ice caught Washington's pole and jerked him into the stream. He seized the raft

and climbed back, and they struggled on, vainly trying for either shore. Finally, they jumped into the freezing water and reached an island. Gist had all his fingers frozen, and part of his toes. In the morning the ice was solid, and they reached Frazer's, where they encountered a party characteristic of the times. Twenty Indians were there, who had been going to war, from which they were dissuaded by finding seven white people killed, and all scalped but one, a woman, as they explained, with definiteness, who had very light hair. The bodies, lying about the house, were being eaten by hogs. Fearing that the whites would take them for the murderers, these warriors hastily returned and declared that the guilty Indians were doubtless French sympathizers from the Ottawa nation.

Gist and Washington intended to take horses at this point, and as it would require some time to find them, the major took a little trip of three

miles to visit the Indian queen, Aliquippa, who had resented his omission to call upon her on the journey to the fort. Washington presented her with a match-coat and a bottle of rum, “which latter," says he, he, "was thought much the best present of the two."

Even after they were on horseback, a mode of travel to which he was more accustomed, Washington describes the journey as being as fatiguing as it is possible to conceive. There was but one day without incessant snow or rain, and the cold was always intense. This sort of thing toughened the young man's spirit and strengthened his body, but it left him subject to fevers and pleurisies. He delivered his papers to the governor on January 16th. The Journal was printed in the newspapers and republished abroad by the British Government.