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A First Latin Reader/31

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Lesson 31: The Beginning of the French and Indian War


1912
 30. A Dangerous Mission (continued) 32. Braddock’s Defeat 
LESSON 31
The Beginning of the French and Indian War

At paucīs post diēbus, per loca aspera summō labōre prōgressus, in hostium finēs pervēnit Vasingtō, castraque ibi parva posuit. Deinde paulō longius profectus explorātōrēs cēpit paucōs; tum autem certior factus Gallōs Indōsque adesse plūrimōs, iterum sē in castra recēpit. Quō factō Gallī, cum sociīs Indīs[1] celeriter cōnsecūtī, in castra impetum fēcērunt ācerrimum; sed postrēmō, colōnīs multās hōrās frūstrā oppugnātīs, ē castrīs Vasingtōnem cum armīs eā condiciōne[2] exīre passī sunt, ut exercitum ex hīs fīnibus statim redūceret. Ille igitur invītus[3] domum iter facere coāctus est.

Posterō autem annō ē Britanniā legiōnēs complūrēs missae sunt ad Gallōs expellendōs[4] ex eīs locīs, unde illī modo Vasingtōnem discēdere coēgerant. Imperātor factus erat vir Britannicus, nōmine Braddoc, dux fortis, quī tamen cum Indīs bellum gerere[5] nesciēbat. Crēdēbat vērō sē omnia scīre, neque ā Vasingtōne aut reliquīs colōnīs sē monērī volēbat; quārē, cum ad bellum profectus esset, quamquam multa mīlia passuum per viās perīculōsās silvāsque maximās iter legiōnibus[6] erat faciendum, explōrātōrēs praemittere nōluit, nec grātiās colōnis ēgit, quī operam suam ultrō pollicitī sunt: nam nē cōnspectum quidem legiōnum suārum putābat Indōs esse lātūrōs.

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  1. Indīs: here as adj.
  2. eā condiciōne … ut: on those terms, that.
  3. invītus: cf. the note on laetus, p. 2 l. 16
  4. ad Gallōs expellendōs: purpose clause; cf. the similar phrase on p. 34 l. 15
  5. gerere: cf. the infinitive with nesciēbat, p.8 l. 2 —— : omit in translation. —— omnia: all (about the subject).
  6. legiōnibus: for syntax, cf. sibi, p. 34, l. 21.