[[1]] The fourth, the fire-ship Owner's Love, was never more heard of. It is supposed that, separated from the others, she ran into the ice and was sunk, with all on board.
CHAPTER X
KING LOUIS BUILDS A MIGHTY FORT
Afar off, in the little Dutch town of Ryswick, the two kings, William and Louis, had signed the treaty of peace. It was agreed that all the places captured by either French or English soldiers during the war should be given back again. What did this mean to Canada and America? Only this: that all these eight years of bloodshed had been in vain. Neither French nor English were a whit the richer or more powerful than before. You must always remember that what both sides were really fighting for was the mastery of the North-American continent. Vast as it was, there was not room enough for both. One side or other must possess it. Should it be French or English? No lasting peace could there be as long as the question remained unsettled.
A great advantage was gained for Canada when the Iroquois at length gave way. Their chiefs, journeying to Montreal in 1701, smoked the calumet with Governor de Callières and handed him the belt of wampum—which signified that there should be no more fighting between Onontio and the Five Nations. Never again did the Iroquois make serious trouble for the people of Canada, and the fetters which had so long bound the fur trade were for ever removed.
But the very next year after this had happened the Peace of Ryswick came to an end. It had lasted only five years, and it was the reckless ambition of Louis the Fourteenth that killed it. He, too, like Kondiaronk, "The Rat," could exclaim to his courtiers, "I have killed the peace!" The new war is known in Europe as the War of the Spanish Succession, because Louis wanted to put his Bourbon nephew on the vacant throne of Spain. In America it is always called "Queen Anne's War." William the Third had died that year, and Queen Anne had succeeded him on the English throne.
The English colonists were still as much in earnest as ever about the importance of overcoming by any means in their power the "French danger," as they called it. They did not hesitate to employ the tribes of Indians, however remote, in the work of harrying the French settlements, both east and west. Port Royal was again attacked, only this time the attack was ignominiously repulsed. Meanwhile the French were not idle. De Calliéres had strongly advised the establishment of several posts on the lake for the reception of furs and merchandise. In June 1701 La Motte Cadillac, with a Jesuit priest and 100 men, was despatched to build a fort at Detroit. Governor de Calliéres hesitated to attack Albany until he could feel confident that the long-dreaded Iroquois Indians would not return to the old allies, the English. He was still making up his mind when illness seized him, and in 1703 he died. His successor was the Marquis de Vaudreuil.
But if the authorities at Quebec doubted the wisdom of provoking Indian hostility in their quarrel with the New Yorkers, Vaudreuil and his friends felt sure of Abenakis friendship. This famous tribe had long hated the New Englanders with a deadly hate. They had committed terrible outrages for many years upon the unfortunate Yankee settlers. De Vaudreuil feared that if the Abenakis were to be at peace too long, they might forget their hatred and even become on friendly terms with the Americans. So Canadian priests and soldiers were sent amongst them to stir up their zeal. They did not want any pitched battles or long sieges. Their policy was to persecute and slay the outlying farmers and woodmen, to make settlement outside of the large towns impossible.
One of the most terrible of these raids occurred at Deerfield in Massachusetts. This place was on the river Connecticut. A party under De Rouville crept up Lake Champlain in mid-winter, and, following the river on the ice, reached Deerfield in the dark. What had happened at Schenectady and Salmon Falls happened here. The surprised people could make no defence, the town was burnt, fifty people slaughtered, almost without resistance, and a hundred more carried away prisoners. A man never laid his head on the pillow at night without the fear that a red assassin might scalp it ere morning dawned. A little later the Abenakis were induced to attack the town of Haverhill in broad daylight. Fierce fighting ensued, because this time there were fifty soldiers present to aid the inhabitants in their resistance; but all was in vain. The massacre at Haverhill is still spoken of with horror in New England. You can imagine the storm of indignation which swept through the English colonies when they heard of these dreadful raids, how strong was their anger against the Abenakis! Bands of stout colonists were sent against them, eager for vengeance and showing no mercy, and as a result the chiefs of the Abenakis at length decided that it would be safer for them to cross the border and set up their wigwams in Canada. From Canada they could raid New England as usual. But, to their surprise, they were by no means heartily welcomed by the French. Canadians well knew by this time the treacherous nature of the Indian. Guns and food were given them, and a smiling face hid the Governor's real embarrassment. Fortunate for him if that were to be his only embarrassment!