CHAPTER II.
DEPARTURE FROM QUEBEC TO ASSIST OUR ALLIED SAVAGES IN THEIR WAR AGAINST THE IROQUOIS, THEIR ENEMIES; AND ALL THAT TRANSPIRED UNTIL OUR RETURN TO THE SETTLEMENT.
I set out from Quebec on the 14th of June, to meet the Montagnais, Algonquins, and Ochateguins, who were to be at the mouth of the river of the Iroquois. When I was eight leagues from Quebec, I met a canoe, containing two savages, one an Algonquin, and the other a Montagnais, who entreated me to advance as rapidly as possible, saying that the Algonquins and Ochateguins would in two days be at the rendezvous, to the number of two hundred, with two hundred others to come a little later, together with Yroquet, one of their chiefs. They asked me if I was satisfied with the coming of these savages. I told them I could not be displeased at it, since they had kept their word. They came on board my barque, where I gave them a good entertainment. Shortly after conferring with them about many matters concerning their wars, the Algonquin savage, one of their chiefs, drew from a sack a piece of copper a foot long, which he gave me. This was very handsome and quite pure. He gave me to understand that there were large quantities where he had taken this, which was on the bank of a river, near a great lake. He said that they gathered it in lumps, and, having melted it, spread it in sheets, smoothing it with stones. I was very glad of this present, although of small value. [364]
Arriving at Trois Rivières, I found all the Montagnais awaiting me, and the four barques as I stated above, which had gone to trade with them.
The savages were delighted to see me, and I went on shore to speak with them. They entreated me, together with my companions, to embark on their canoes and no others, when we went to the war, saying that they were our old friends. This I promised them, telling them that I desired to set out at once, since the wind was favorable; and that my barque was not so swift as their canoes, for which reason I desired to go on in advance. They earnestly entreated me to wait until the morning of the next day, when we would all go together, adding that they would not go faster than I should. Finally, to satisfy them, I promised to do this, at which they were greatly pleased.
On the following day, we all set out together, and continued our route until the morning of the next day, the 19th of the month, when we arrived at an island [365] off the river of the Iroquois, and waited for the Algonquins, who were to be there the same day. While the Montagnais were felling trees to clear a place for dancing, and for arranging themselves for the arrival of the Algonquins, an Algonquin canoe was suddenly seen coming in haste, to bring word that the Algonquins had fallen in with a hundred Iroquois, who were strongly barricaded, and that it would be difficult to conquer them, unless they should come speedily, together with the Matigoches, as they call us.
The alarm at once sounded among them, and each one got into his canoe with his arms. They were quickly in readiness, but with confusion; for they were so precipitous that, instead of making haste, they hindered one another. They came to our barque and the others, begging me, together with my companions, to go with them in their canoes, and they were so urgent that I embarked with four others. I requested our pilot, La Routte, to stay in the barque, and send me some four or five more of my companions, if the other barques would send some shallops with men to aid us; for none of the barques were inclined to go with the savages, except Captain Thibaut, who, having a barque there, went with me. The savages cried out to those who remained, saying that they were woman-hearted, and that all they could do was to make war upon their peltry.
Meanwhile, after going some half a league, all the savages crossing the river landed, and, leaving their canoes, took their bucklers, bows, arrows, clubs, and swords, which they attach to the end of large sticks, and proceeded to make their way in the woods, so fast that we soon lost sight of them, they leaving us, five in number, without guides. This displeased us; but, keeping their tracks constantly in sight, we followed them, although we were often deceived. We went through dense woods, and over swamps and marshes, with the water always up to our knees, greatly encumbered by a pike-man's corselet, with which each one was armed. We were also tormented in a grievous and unheard-of manner by quantities of mosquitoes, which were so thick that they scarcely permitted us to draw breath. After going about half a league under these circumstances, and no longer knowing where we were, we perceived two savages passing through the woods, to whom we called and told them to stay with us, and guide us to the whereabouts of the Iroquois, otherwise we could not go there, and should get lost in the woods. They stayed to guide us. After proceeding a short distance, we saw a savage coming in haste to us, to induce us to advance as rapidly as possible, giving me to understand that the Algonquins and Montagnais had tried to force the barricade of the Iroquois but had been repulsed, that some of the best men of the Montagnais had been killed in the attempt, and several wounded, and that they had retired to wait for us, in whom was their only hope. We had not gone an eighth of a league with this savage, who was an Algonquin captain, before we heard the yells and cries on both sides, as they jeered at each other, and were skirmishing slightly while awaiting us. As soon as the savages perceived us, they began to shout, so that one could not have heard it thunder. I gave orders to my companions to follow me steadily, and not to leave me on any account. I approached the barricade of the enemy, in order to reconnoitre it. It was constructed of large trees placed one upon an other, and of a circular shape, the usual form of their fortifications. All the Montagnais and Algonquins approached likewise the barricade. Then we commenced firing numerous musket-shots through the brush-wood, since we could not see them, as they could us. I was wounded while firing my first shot at the side of their barricade by an arrow, which pierced the end of my ear and entered my neck. I seized the arrow, and tore it from my neck. The end of it was armed with a very sharp stone. One of my companions also was wounded at the same time in the arm by an arrow, which I tore out for him. Yet my wound did not prevent me from doing my duty: our savages also, on their part, as well as the enemy, did their duty, so that you could see the arrows fly on all sides as thick as hail. The Iroquois were astonished at the noise of our muskets, and especially that the balls penetrated better than their arrows. They were so frightened at the effect produced that, seeing several, of their companions fall wounded and dead, they threw themselves on the ground whenever they heard a discharge, supposing that the shots were sure. We scarcely ever missed firing two or three balls at one shot, resting our muskets most of the time on the side of their barricade. But, seeing that our ammunition began to fail, I said to all the savages that it was necessary to break down their barricades and capture them by storm; and that, in order to accomplish this, they must take their shields, cover themselves with them, and thus approach so near as to be able to fasten stout ropes to the posts that supported the barricades, and pull them down by main strength, in that way making an opening large enough to permit them to enter the fort. I told them that we would meanwhile, by our musketry-fire, keep off the enemy, as they endeavored to prevent them from accomplishing this; also that a number of them should get behind some large trees, which were near the barricade, in order to throw them down upon the enemy, and that others should protect these with their shields, in order to keep the enemy from injuring them. All this they did very promptly. And, as they were about finishing the work, the barques, distant a league and a half, hearing the reports of our muskets, knew that we were engaged in conflict; and a young man from St. Malo, full of courage, Des Prairies by name, who like the rest had come with his barque to engage in peltry traffic, said to his companions that it was a great shame to let me fight in this way with the savages without coming to my assistance; that for his part he had too high a sense of honor to permit him to do so, and that he did not wish to expose himself to this reproach. Accordingly, he determined to come to me in a shallop with some of his companions, together with some of mine whom he took with him. Immediately upon his arrival, he went towards the fort of the Iroquois, situated on the bank of the river. Here he landed, and came to find me. Upon seeing him, I ordered our savages who were breaking down the fortress to stop, so that the new-comers might have their share of the sport. I requested Sieur des Prairies and his companions to fire some salvos of musketry, before our savages should carry by storm the enemy, as they had decided to do. This they did, each one firing several shots, in which all did their duty well. After they had fired enough, I addressed myself to our savages, urging them to finish the work. Straightway, they approached the barricade, as they had previously done, while we on the flank were to fire at those who should endeavor to keep them from breaking it down. They behaved so well and bravely that, with the help of our muskets, they made an opening, which, however, was difficult to go through, as there was still left a portion as high as a man, there being also branches of trees there which had been beaten down, forming a serious obstacle. But, when I saw that the entrance was quite practicable, I gave orders not to fire any more, which they obeyed. At the same instant, some twenty or thirty, both of savages and of our own men, entered, sword in hand, without finding much resistance. Immediately, all who were unharmed took to flight. But they did not proceed far; for they were brought down by those around the barricade, and those who escaped were drowned in the river. We captured some fifteen prisoners, the rest being killed by musket-shots, arrows, and the sword. When the fight was over, there came another shallop, containing some of my companions. This although behind time, was yet in season for the booty, which, however, was not of much account. There were only robes of beaver-skin, and dead bodies, covered with blood, which the savages would not take the trouble to plunder, laughing at those in the last shallop, who did so; for the others did not engage in such low business. This, then, is the victory obtained by God's grace, for gaining which they gave us much praise.
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CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
FORT DES IROQUOIS.
A. The fort of the Iroquois. B. The Iroquois throwing themselves into the river to escape the pursuit of the Montagnais and Algonquins who followed for the purpose of killing them. D. Sieur de Champlain and five of his men. E. The savages friendly to us. F. Sieur des Prairies of St. Malo with his comrades. G. Shallop of Sieur des Prairies. H. Great trees cut down for the purpose of destroying the fort of the Iroquois.
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The savages scalped the dead, and took the heads as a trophy of victory, according to their custom. They returned with fifty wounded Montagnais and Algonquins and three dead, singing and leading their prisoners with them. They attached to sticks in the prows of their canoes the heads and a dead body cut into quarters, to eat in revenge, as they said. In this way, they went to our barques off the River of the Iroquois.
My companions and I embarked in a shallop, where I had my wound dressed by the surgeon, De Boyer, of Rouen, who likewise had come here for the purpose of traffic. The savages spent all this day in dancing and singing.
The next day, Sieur de Pont Gravé arrived with another shallop, loaded with merchandise. Moreover, there was also a barque containing Captain Pierre, which he had left behind, it being able to come only with difficulty, as it was rather heavy and a poor sailer.
The same day there was some trading in peltry, but the other barques carried off the better part of the booty. It was doing them a great favor to search out a strange people for them, that they might afterwards carry off the profit without any risk or danger.
That day, I asked the savages for an Iroquois prisoner which they had, and they gave him to me. What I did for him was not a little; for I saved him from many tortures which he must have suffered in company with his fellow-prisoners; whole nails they tore out, also cutting off their fingers, and burning them in several places. They put to death on the same day two or three, and, in order to increase their torture, treated them in the following manner.
They took the prisoners to the border of the water, and fastened them perfectly upright to a stake. Then each came with a torch of birch bark, and burned them, now in this place, now in that. The poor wretches, feeling the fire, raised so loud a cry that it was something frightful to hear; and frightful indeed are the cruelties which these barbarians practise towards each other. After making them suffer greatly in this manner and burning them with the above-mentioned bark, taking some water, they threw it on their bodies to increase their suffering. Then they applied the fire anew, so that the skin fell from their bodies, they continuing to utter loud cries and exclamations, and dancing until the poor wretches fell dead on the spot.
As soon as a body fell to the ground dead, they struck it violent blows with sticks, when they cut off the arms, legs, and other parts; and he was not regarded by them as manly, who did not cut off a piece of the flesh, and give it to the dogs. Such are the courtesies prisoners receive. But still they endure all the tortures inflicted upon them with such constancy that the spectator is astonished.
As to the other prisoners, which remained in possession of the Algonquins and Montagnais, it was left to their wives and daughters to put them to death with their own hands; and, in such a matter, they do not show themselves less inhuman than the men, but even surpass them by far in cruelty; for they devise by their cunning more cruel punishments, in which they take pleasure, putting an end to their lives by the most extreme pains.
The next day there arrived the Captain Yroquet, also another Ochateguin, with some eighty men, who regretted greatly not having been present at the defeat. Among all these tribes there were present nearly two hundred men, who had never before seen Christians, for whom they conceived a great admiration.
We were some three days together on an island off the river of the
Iroquois, when each tribe returned to its own country.
I had a young lad, who had already spent two winters at Quebec, and who was desirous of going with the Algonquins to learn their language. Pont Gravé and I concluded that, if he entertained this desire, it would be better to send him to this place than elsewhere, that he might ascertain the nature of their country, see the great lake, observe the rivers and tribes there, and also explore the mines and objects of special interest in the localities occupied by these tribes, in order that he might inform us upon his return, of the facts of the case. We asked him if it was his desire to go, for I did not wish to force him. But he answered the question at once by consenting to the journey with great pleasure.
Going to Captain Yroquet, who was strongly attached to me, I asked him if he would like to take this young boy to his country to spend the winter with him, and bring him back in the spring. He promised to do so, and treat him as his own son, saying that he was greatly pleased with the idea. He communicated the plan to all the Algonquins, who were not greatly pleased with it, from fear that some accident might happen to the boy, which would cause us to make war upon them. This hesitation cooled the desire of Yroquet, who came and told me that all his companions failed to find the plan a good one. Meanwhile, all the barques had left, excepting that of Pont Gravé, who, having some pressing business on hand, as he told me, went away too. But I stayed with my barque to see how the matter of the journey of this boy, which I was desirous should take place, would result. I accordingly went on shore, and asked to speak with the captains, who came to me, and we sat down for a conference, together with many other savages of age and distinction in their troops. Then I asked them why Captain Yroquet, whom I regarded as my friend, had refused to take my boy with him. I said that it was not acting like a brother or friend to refuse me what he had promised, and what could result in nothing but good to them; taking the boy would be a means of increasing still more our friendship with them and forming one with their neighbors; that their scruples at doing so only gave me an unfavorable opinion of them; and that if they would not take the boy, as Captain Yroquet had promised, I would never have any friendship with them, for they were not children to break their promises in this manner. They then told me that they were satisfied with the arrangement, only they feared that, from change of diet to something worse than he had been accustomed to, some harm might happen to the boy, which would provoke my displeasure. This they said was the only cause of their refusal.
I replied that the boy would be able to adapt himself without difficulty to their manner of living and usual food, and that, if through sickness or the fortunes of war any harm should befall him, this would not interrupt my friendly feelings towards them, and that we were all exposed to accidents, which we must submit to with patience. But I said that if they treated him badly, and if any misfortune happened to him through their fault, I should in truth be displeased, which, however, I did not expect from them, but quite the contrary.
They said to me: "Since then, this is your desire, we will take him, and treat him like ourselves. But you shall also take a young man in his place, to go to France. We shall be greatly pleased to hear him report the fine things he shall have seen." I accepted with pleasure the proposition, and took the young man. He belonged to the tribe of the Ochateguins, and was also glad to go with me. This presented an additional motive for treating my boy still better than they might otherwise have done. I fitted him out with what he needed, and we made a mutual promise to meet at the end of June.
We parted with many promises of friendship. Then they went away towards the great fall of the River of Canada, while I returned to Quebec. On my way, I met Pont Gravé on Lake St. Peter, who was waiting for me with a large patache, which he had fallen in with on this lake, and which had not been expeditious enough to reach the place where the savages were, on account of its poor sailing qualities.
We all returned together to Quebec, when Pont Gravé went to Tadoussac, to arrange some matters pertaining to our quarters there. But I stayed at Quebec to see to the reconstruction of some palisades about our abode, until Pont Gravé should return, when we could confer together as to what was to be done.
On the 4th of June, Des Marais arrived at Quebec, greatly to our joy; for we were afraid that some accident had happened to him at sea.
Some days after, an Iroquois prisoner, whom I had kept guarded, got away in consequence of my giving him too much liberty, and made his escape, urged to do so by fear, notwithstanding the assurances given him by a woman of his tribe we had at our settlement.
A few days after, Pont Gravé wrote me that he was thinking of passing the winter at the settlement, being moved to do so by many considerations. I replied that, if he expected to fare better than I had done in the past, he would do well.
He accordingly hastened to provide himself with the supplies necessary for the settlement.
After I had finished the palisade about our habitation, and put every thing in order, Captain Pierre returned in a barque in which he had gone to Tadoussac to see his friends. I also went there to ascertain what would result from the second trading, and to attend to some other special business which I had there. Upon my arrival, I found there Pont Gravé, who stated to me in detail his plans, and the reasons inducing him to spend the winter. I told him frankly what I thought of the matter; namely, that I believed he would not derive much profit from it, according to the appearances that were plainly to be seen.
He determined accordingly to change his plan, and despatched a barque with orders for Captain Pierre to return from Quebec on account of some business he had with him; with the intelligence also that some vessels, which had arrived from Brouage, brought the news that Monsieur de Saint Luc had come by post from Paris, expelled those of the religion from Brouage, re-enforced the garrison with soldiers, and then returned to Court; [366] that the king had been killed, and two or three days after him the Duke of Sully, together with two other lords, whose names they did not know. [367]
All these tidings gave great sorrow to the true French in these quarters. As for myself, it was hard for me to believe it, on account of the different reports about the matter, and which had not much appearance of truth. Still, I was greatly troubled at hearing such mournful news.
Now, after having stayed three or four days longer at Tadoussac, I saw the loss which many merchants must suffer, who had taken on board a large quantity of merchandise, and fitted out a great number of vessels, in expectation of doing a good business in the fur-trade, which was so poor on account of the great number of vessels, that many will for a long time remember the loss which they suffered this year.
Sieur de Pont Gravé and I embarked, each of us in a barque, leaving Captain Pierre on the vessel. We took Du Parc to Quebec, where we finished what remained to be done at the settlement. After every thing was in good condition, we resolved that Du Parc, who had wintered there with Captain Pierre, should remain again, and that Captain Pierre should return to France with us, on account of some business that called him there.
We accordingly left Du Parc in command there, with sixteen men, all of whom we enjoined to live soberly, and in the fear of God, and in strict observance of the obedience due to the authority of Du Parc, who was left as their chief and commander, just as if one of us had remained. This they all promised to do, and to live in peace with each other.
As to the gardens, we left them all well supplied with kitchen vegetables of all sorts, together with fine Indian corn, wheat, rye, and barley, which had been already planted. There were also vines which I had set out when I spent the winter there, but these they made no attempt to preserve; for, upon my return, I found them all in ruins, and I was greatly displeased that they had given so little attention to the preservation of so fine and good a plot, from which I had anticipated a favorable result.
After seeing that every thing was in good order, we set out from Quebec on the 8th of August for Tadoussac, in order to prepare our vessel, which was speedily done.