the Osages, concealing at the same time their numbers and their hostile intention, and inviting Clermont, the chief, to a council which they proposed to hold at a little distance from the town. Clermont being absent on a hunt with the young men of his village, an old Indian, and one in high standing with his people, was appointed to act in his stead, and commissioned to conclude a peace with the Cherokees, according to the wish they had expressed by their messengers. But what was his surprise, when, on arriving at the spot designated as that at which the council was to be held, instead of a few chiefs and old men, as had been represented, he found himself surrounded by the whole armed force of the Cherokees. He was seized and put to death on the spot. The design of this act of perfidy had been to effect the destruction of Clermont, the bravest and most powerful of the Osages. The Cherokees then proceeded to the attack of the town, where, on account of the absence of the efficient men, they encountered little resistance. A scene of outrage and bloodshed ensued, in which the eleven Americans are said to have acted a conspicuous and a shameful part. They fired the village, destroyed the corn and other provisions, of which the Osages had raised a plentiful crop, killed and took prisoners between fifty and sixty persons, all old men, women, and children. Four of these prisoners, who had been since held in captivity by the Cherokees east of the Mississippi, had been brought to Point Pleasant, by a metif called Captain Rogers, and a consultation was now to be held, concerning the manner of restoring them to the Osages.