allies of the French Army, such as the Wyandot and Ottawa Indians, and with tribes that had formerly been allies of the British. The European and Native American representatives open the peace conference with the presentation by the Indians to the British of a wampum belt, and the pronouncement from the principal chief that "The ancient friendship is now renewed, and I wash the blood off the earth that had been shed during the present war, that you may bury the war hatchet in the bottomless pit."<ref>"1763 in Native American Country", by Ulrike Kirchberger, in Decades of Reconstruction: Postwar Societies, State-Building and International Relations from the Seven Years' War to the Cold War", ed. by Ute Planert and James Retallack (Cambridge University Press, 2017) p72</ref> December 6 – The siege of Pondicherry, a stronghold of France in India, is begun by British Army Lieutenant General Eyre Coote. The French commander, General Thomas Lally, is finally forced to surrender Pondicherry to the British on January 15, 1761. December 18 – In the wake of Tacky's War by African-born rebels, the Assembly of the British colony of Jamaica outlaws the African religious practice of obeah, with penalties ranging from banishment from the colony to execution. The legislation specifically bans use of contraband associated with obeah, including "animal blood, feathers, parrots' beaks, dogs' teeth, alligators' teeth, broken bottles, grave dirt, rum, and eggshells". Date unknown Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée opens a school for deaf education in Paris which becomes the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris, the world's first free school for the deaf; Thomas Braidwood establishes Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb in Edinburgh, the first school for the deaf in Britain. Western countries pay 3,000,000 ounces of silver for Chinese goods. approximate date – Abu Dhabi is founded. Births January 11 Zofia Potocka, Greek slave courtesan, agent for Russia and Polish noble (d. 1822) February 3 – John Storm, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1835) March 1 – François Nicolas Leonard Buzot, French Revolutionary leader (suicide 1794) March 10 – Leandro Fernández de Moratín, Spanish dramatist, translator and neoclassical poet (d. 1828) March 28 – Thomas Clarkson, English abolitionist (d. 1846) April 16 – Sigismund Friedrich Hermbstädt, German pharmacist, chemist (d. 1833) April 30 – Joseph Souham, French general (d. 1837) May 10 – Johann Peter Hebel, German poet (d. 1826) May 28 – Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais, French politician,