The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

PART I.] THE FRENCH WAR. 283
deficient in my duty, had I delayed one moment in
transmitting to the General any intelligence I could procure; much more in a matter so material as that upon
which he has been informed. I must, therefore, beg
that you will, from me, assure the General, that the
Catawbas have not this year brought in one prisoner or
scalp to this place, nor indeed to any other that I have
heard of. No prisoner has been taken by any of our
friendly Indians this season, and no scalps, except the
two taken near Fort Duquesne by Ucahula,* of which,
and all the intelligence of the enemy in that quarter,
which that young warrior was able to give, I, by the last
post, sent to the General a full and circumstantial account. Nor would I have failed to keep him duly informed of every interesting occurrence, even had it not
been recommended to me.
It gave me no small uneasiness to be informed of the
resolution of some of the Cherokees, to wander towards
the Indian settlements in Maryland and Pennsylvania,
clearly foreseeing the bad consequences such a peregrination would produce. I therefore represented the matter to Captain Gist in the strongest manner, and must
do him the justice to say, that nothing in his power was
omitted to prevent it. But our efforts proved ineffectual, as those two provinces last year, very impoliticly I
humbly conceive, made presents to these Indians, and
* This Indian went out with a party of six soldiers and thirty Indians,
under the command of Lieutenant Gist. After great fatigues and sufferings, occasioned by the snows on the Allegany mountains, they reached
the Monongahela river, where Lieutenant Gist, by a fall from a precipice,
was rendered unable to proceed, and the party separated. Ucahula, with
two other Indians, descended the Monongahela in a bark canoe, till they
came near Fort Duquesne. Here they left their canoe, and concealed
themselves on the margin of the river, till they had an opportunity of attacking two Frenchmen, who were fishing in a canoe, and whom they
killed and scalped. These scalps were brought to Fort Loudoun by
Ucahula.