[Edward Manning Ruttenber (1872)] received their visitors approvingly; but at length comprehending that they were to be the ultimate sufferers, remonstrated. " Where," said Tanadiarisson, the Half-King, as the ruling Seneca chief was called; " where lie the lands of the Indians ? The French claim -all on one side of the river, and the English all on the other j " and, repairing to the French commandant at Erie, he declared that it was the wish of his people that both parties should withdraw. Met with open refusal, he returned 1 Bancroft, iv, 43 etc.; Life and Times of Sir Wm, Johnson, i, 386, etc. 210 1HE INDIAN TRIBES to his council, and added to the pending conflict a third party in interest — the aboriginal proprietors who were resolved to defeat the purposes of their European neighbors in such manner as opportunity should develop. Strong in all the resources of civil and military centralization, the government of Canada moved with a resolution and celerity that for a time set at defiance the efforts of their slow-footed and divided adversaries. By the end of 1753, they had a con nected line of forts, extending from Montreal to what is now called French creek, in Pennsylvania, but to which they gave