DELAWARE COUNTY. 59 ant object of the missiouj he stationed his force at this set- tlement, giiang private orders to the captains to hold them- selves in readiness, at a moment's warning, to march to his relief, should he be inhospitably detained beyond the appointed time for his return. He was accompanied the remainder of the journey by a friendly Oneida and one white man, who resumed their route from the settlement, travelling the whole distance to the Indian encampment upon the frozen surface of the Susque- hanna. They were received by the Indians with every demon- stration of friendship; a council fire was built, and the chiefs and braves assembled around it to deliberate upon the objects of the mission. The letter from the Provincial Congress of New York was read to them by Harper, who needed no inter- preter, and who, in a few remarks in the Indian tongue, which he spohe and gestured^ fluently, represented to them the ad- vantages of an alliance with the colonies ; as the inevitable result of the war would be the establishment of their inde- pendence. He then distributed some presents among them. In the afternoon they again assembled at the council fire ; the Indians having held a discussion in secret, when a principal chief arose : he stated to Harper, that the report that in con- nection with the Johnsons, an expedition into the frontier settlements had been concerted in the following spring, was untrue — that they deplored the existing difficulties into which their brethren had been placed — that they should take no part in them, and that they desired to remain neutral. Having closed his speech, according to Indian usages he presented Harper with a deer skin, as a pledge of the sincerity of his pretensions. At night a feast was prepared, and an ox which Harper had
- Gestures are a radical part of Indian oratory — every sentence is
accompanied by an appropriate gesture.
