It was well known to Government and approved of, and was mentioned to me in the Lords of Trades Plan, and Chearfully agreed to by the Indians who were disposed to give the sufferers a Greater Extent of Land than is in the Grant, had I not interposed, thro' an apprehension that there were not wanting Malicious persons who thro' Envy or Illnature might take occasion to lessen the importance of the Transactions at the Treaty by remarks on the Extent of a private Grant, tho' such Grant could not prove any loss to the Crown, as

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it must be subject to the same Quit-rent of any other, and Iho' it Avas ail act of Justice and policy and diil not reach within 100 miles of the Great Kanhawa. Some of the Indians thro' principle, & all of them from an Inclination to shew their regard to Treatys, made particular mention of these Grants in their Speeches recommending them to his Majesty, as they did every thing that seemed necessary to their Interest, & this I can safely assure y' Lordship they did of their own meer motion. They observed to me that from what they knew of the present price of Lands here they were sensible they could not receive the lO'h part of the Value of the Cession, that therefore they had the strongest reliance on his Majestys attention to their humble requests. I have upon all occasions given as nearly as possible the Literal sense of the Indians as delivered in their speeches, but in this case I softened them, without deviating from their meaning, because I found them rather more animated than they often are, or than I desired ; and altho' this could not surprise any man acquainted with the particular mode of Expression of that Confederacy in matters of much moment, I was aware that it might be liable to misconstruction unless due allowance be made for them as Savages who have the most extravagant notions of Freedom, property, and independence, and who cannot as yet be persuaded to give up their hopes and expectations from the Crown ; and any person who well understands and impartially represents them must admit that in all Such Treatys, they endeavour to maintain their own importance by the most forcible expressions, to which I may with truth add that as their words for fear of offence have been often Glossed over before they were committed to Writing by many others, I was the first that in the most critical periods took upon me to check them in their Sallys of that nature, whilst at the same tim^e I took care so to conduct myself as to point out their error without driving them to Extremitys.