Here the orator took occasion to explain, very shrewdly, why the deputation to which he belonged had been delayed so long, with some other matters of the same kind. He then reported the following resolutions agreed upon by the Council to be sent to the Governor of Canada. They were probably his own composition, the Council having been called, and the whole transaction in a great measure managed by himself. 1. "Yonondio!--You have sent for me often, and as often asked, why I am afraid to come? The great kettle of war that you have hung over the fire is the reason of it." Here Decanesora said he was to lay down a belt, and ask the Governor's consent to the other two which he held in his hand. 2. "We now not only throw down the kettle, and thereby throw the boiling water out of it, but likewise break it to pieces, that it may never be hung up again,--by this second belt." 3. "Hearken Yonondio!--You are sent from the French King, your master. So is Cayenguirago from the Great King and Queen of England. What I am now about to speak to you, is by inspiration from the Great Spirit. You say that you will have nothing to do with our brethren of Cayenguirago. But I must tell you, that we are inseparable. We can have no peace with you so long as you are at war with them;"--which, added Decanesora, is to be confirmed by the third belt. The noble fidelity to engagements here set forth as a sacred principle, was far from being the result of either fear or mere affection; and this Schuyler himself had the opportunity of testing, before the deputation left Albany. 7. {_sic_} "The Governor of Canada's words, and the Resolutions of the Five-Nations," said the orator in conclusion, "are now before you. Consult, therefore, what is to be done. If it be necessary for the Brethren to go to our castle, to advise us farther, be not unwilling." Here he laid down a large belt, eleven rows deep, and seven fathoms of wampum. This signified an amicable disposition; but when, on the ensuing day, Major Schuyler replied that he would consent to no treaty with the French, and proposed that the deputation, and Decanesora in particular, should visit him again at the end of seventy days, the rejoinder was, after consultation, that _they_ would visit him. "But as for myself," said the old Sachem, "I cannot dispose of myself without their directions. If they order me, I shall willingly return. We did not expect to hear such positive prohibition of keeping any correspondence with the French. If any mischief happen within the seventy days, let us not blame one another. Consider again what is most for the public good--and let it be spoken before we part."