"
The chiefs were struck with horror and alarm. They implored him not to
uncork the bottle, since they and all their people were firm friends of
the white men, and would always remain so; but, should the small-pox
be once let out, it would run like wildfire throughout the country,
sweeping off the good as well as the bad; and surely he would not be so
unjust as to punish his friends for crimes committed by his enemies.
Mr. M'Dougal pretended to be convinced by their reasoning, and assured
them that, so long as the white people should be unmolested, and the
conduct of their Indian neighbors friendly and hospitable, the phial of
wrath should remain sealed up; but, on the least hostility, the fatal
cork should be drawn.
From this time, it is added, he was much dreaded by the natives, as one
who held their fate in his hands, and was called, by way of preeminence,
"the Great Small-pox Chief."
All this while, the labors at the infant settlement went on with
unremitting assiduity, and, by the 26th of September, a commodious
mansion, spacious enough to accommodate all hands, was completed. It
was built of stone and clay, there being no calcarcous stone in the
neighborhood from which lime for mortar could be procured. The schooner
was also finished, and launched, with the accustomed ceremony, on the
second of October, and took her station below the fort.
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