It was not until two o'clock in the day that Pouchot and his garrison were informed that the firing heard in the morning had ended in the ruin of their hopes of succor. With great difficulty and danger, an Indian had passed the besiegers' lines and borne them the unwelcome intelligence of D'Aubry's defeat and capture. From the earliest dawn, deep excitement had reigned in the beleaguered fort; while the shades of night still lingered under the tall forest trees, flashes of scattered musketry had occasionally burst forth. As the morning advanced, the dropping shots quickened into the sharp rattle of a skirmish, the sounds still approaching the besieged, and stimulating hopes of aid. A little before nine o'clock the skirmish had breezed up into a battle; for half an hour the line of fire waved to and fro, now bent toward the fort, again receded up the banks of the Great River, then held pertinaciously to a woody hollow, and at length fell back into the forest, became broken, interrupted, indistinct, and disappeared. With it vanished the last chance of succor for the garrison of Niagara. When the first ardor of the pursuit had abated, and Sir William Johnson had got his forces somewhat in hand again, he sent Major Harvey with a flag of truce to inform the French chief of the morning's events, and to exhort him to surrender without further bloodshed, conveying also a terrible hint that in a little time he might not be able to restrain the fierce vengeance of his Indian allies. Pouchot yet doubted, or affected to doubt, the truth of the woeful disaster which had befallen his countrymen, and, still endeavoring to gain time, requested that one of his officers might be allowed to see the prisoners, and hear the tale of defeat from their own lips. The request was granted, the facts were ascertained, and, no further excuse for procrastination suggesting itself, the stubborn Frenchman then surrendered with his fort and garrison.[172] The terms of capitulation were liberal, and worthy of both conquerors and conquered. It was agreed that the French troops should march out with the honors of war from the ramparts they had so well defended, and lay down their arms on the banks of the lake. There they were to embark immediately in vessels provided by Sir William Johnson, and to be carried to New York by the shortest and easiest route. The French ladies, and all females and children, were offered safe conveyance, subsistence, and escort to the nearest port of France: and the sick and wounded men were to be carefully tended till able to travel, when they were to rejoin their comrades. The victors undertook to protect their prisoners from every insult or injury, in person and in property. All stores, provisions, and arms, with every thing belonging to his most Christian majesty, were to be delivered up in strict faith by M. Pouchot. At seven o'clock in the morning of the 26th of July, a British guard was to take possession of the fort gates.