[Footnote: _Do._ Letter of A.McKee, Dec.

24, 1786; McKee to Sir John Johnson, Feb.

25, 1786; Major Ancrum, May 8, 1786.] The Indians received counsel and advice from the British, and drew from them both arms and munitions of war, and while the higher British officers were usually careful to avoid committing any overt breach of neutrality, the reckless partisan leaders sought to inflame the Indians against the Americans, and even at times accompanied their war parties.
Life at a Frontier Post.
The life led at a frontier post like Detroit was marked by sharp contrasts.

The forest round about was cleared away, though blackened stumps still dotted the pastures, orchards, and tilled fields.

The town itself was composed mainly of the dwellings of the French _habitans_; some of them were mere hovels, others pretty log cottages, all swarming with black-eyed children; while the stoutly-made, swarthy men, at once lazy and excitable, strolled about the streets in their picturesque and bright-colored blanket suits.