On the return of the warriors, they also entered into the contest. The Shawanese invaded the territory of the Delawares, who met them on the river’s brink, and fought them as they landed from their canoes. Still, the Shawanese, after a smart struggle, were enabled to land, when a fierce and bloody battle took place, in which several hundreds were killed on both sides. The Shawanese were routed, and, after having lost half their number, were compelled to return. They, therefore, immediately left Wyoming, and joined the main body of their nation, already settled on the Ohio. The Delawares remained. In 1761, a conference was held between several American governors and the Six Nations, at which the Delawares, also, were present. Here a warm dispute arose respecting some lands, of which the Delaware chief complained that the English had taken possession, in consequence of a fraudulent conveyance. The Indians being thus dissatisfied, the French took care, by emissaries, to foment disturbances. The resentment of the Shawanese and Delawares was further roused by the suspicion that the English had concerted a plan for their extirpation. They therefore united with the other tribes upon the Ohio, and the nations about Detroit and along the Mississippi, for the purpose of making a sudden and general attack on the frontiers, and at one blow to cut off the inhabitants and their means of subsistence. This plot, in which the celebrated Pontiac[12] was one of the master spirits, was matured with great art and secrecy. In 1763, the storm, which had been long gathering, and of which the low muttering had been heard, burst forth in its fury. The savages broke in upon the settlements, massacred the inhabitants, and all the frontier country of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, for twenty miles back, was abandoned. The travelling merchants, who were among the Indians, were murdered and plundered, and property to the amount of hundreds of thousands of pounds was lost. So fierce and unexpected was the onset, that several forts, as those of Le Bœuf, Venango, and Presque Isle, were captured by the enemy. They next attempted Fort Pitt, Detroit, and Niagara. The two former were invested at the same time, though about three hundred miles apart. A strong detachment was despatched by the English to relieve these posts. On reaching the neighbourhood of Fort Detroit, an attack on the Indian camp, about three miles off, was determined on. But, before the English approached, the Indians themselves began the attack, with the utmost fury, and the troops were compelled to retreat to the fort, with the loss of seventy killed and forty wounded. The Indians, however, soon despairing of success in their scheme of reducing the garrison, gave it up and withdrew.