I some time after, the better to accommodate them, took a house, and gave my note for their board, which came to £. 29 : 13 : 6. I wrote again to Lord H——, and received a verbal answer at the office, from Mr. St—h—e, which was, that his Lordship took very ill my troubling him with those letters: that since I had brought the Indians here, I should take them back, or he would take such measures as I should not like. I replied, something hastily, that I had not brought the Indians, neither would I carry them back: that his Lordship might take what measures he pleased; which I suppose offended a courtier accustomed to more deceitful language. I am a soldier, and above cringing or bearing tamely an injury.
But should these people commence a war, and scalp every encroacher, or even others, to revenge the ill treatment they received while coming in a peaceable manner to seek redress before they had recourse to arms, let the public judge who must answer it; I must, however, lay great part of the blame on Mr. Cacoanthropos, who, possessing the ear of Lord H——, made such an unfavourable report of me, that either his Lordship believed, or pretended to believe them impostors, or Indians brought over for a shew. They were known by several gentlemen in London to be of power in their own country; and had not the government been convinced of that, I scarce think they would have sent them home at all. As to his other suspicion, even when I had been so great a loser, without hopes of redress, I might have justified making a shew of them; but they were quite private; few knew there were such people in London. Nay, I did not enough disabuse the public when that impostor, who had taken the name of Chucatah, was detected; so the public, without further examination, imagined Chucatah himself to be the impostor. What contributed greatly to raise this report, was, that three Mohock Indians were, after making the tour of England and Ireland, made a shew of in the Strand, and immediately confounded by the public with the Cherokees, and I accused of making a shew all over England of Indians who never stirred out of London. Had I showed them, I should not have been under such anxiety to have them sent away; I should have wished their stay, or been able to have sent them back without any inconveniency in raising the necessary money for that purpose: but as it was entirely out of my power, I was advised to put in an advertisement for a public contribution; I first, however, resolved to present a petition to the Board of Trade, in answer to which Lord H——h told me, that it no way concerned them, but Lord H——, to whom I must again apply. On a second application, Lord H——h agreed I should be paid for the time they remained in London, and that he would take care to have them sent home. I was allowed two guineas a week for the month they stayed afterwards in town; but from Mr. Trueheart’s death, what in cloaths, paint, trinkets, coach-hire, and other expences, including the bill from their late lodgings (for which I was arrested, and put to a considerable expence) and the time they had lived with me, I had expended near seventy pounds, which I must enevitably lose, as Lord H—— has absolutely refused to reimburse me.