With  little  detention,  he  landed  on  the  Illinois  shore,  a  short  dis-
tance below  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash.*  Soon  after  disembark-
ing, he  was  unexpectedly*  greeted  by  a  shower  of  bullets  proceed-
ing from  tangled  thickets  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  whereby  5  of
his  men  were  killed  and  most  of  the  remainder  wounded.  Imme-
diately following  the  explosion  of  musketry,  80  yelping  Kickapoos
rushed  from  their  covert>s,  and  disarming  the  English,  took  posses^
sion  of  all  their  personal  effects.  When  thus  rendered  x>owerless,
the  assailants  began  to  apologize  for  the  dastardly  attack.  They
declared  to  Croghan  that  the  French  had  told  them  that  his  escort
consisted  of  Cherokees,  their  mortal  enemies,  and  that  under  this
false  impression,  they  had  made  the  assault  This  pretext  wa«,
however^  another  instance  of  the  deception  for  which  that  tribe
was  distmguished.  Though  endeavoring  to  excuse  their  conduct
on  the  plea  of  ignorance,  it  was  afterward  ascertained  that  they
had  dogged  Croghan  for  several  days,  and  knew  well  the  charac-
ter of  his  escort.  With  less  government  over  themselves  than
children,  and  filled  with  the  instinct  of  devils,  their  real  object  was
to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  English  and  gratify  a  rabid  desire  for
blood.
