They Are To Meet Privatly & You Shall Be
Called To It.
Cheare up & speake as you have done; that is my councell to
you.
For this you will remember me when you will see me in your country;
ffor I will venter meselfe with you." Now we are more satisfied then the
day before. We weare to use all rhetorique to persuade them to goe downe,
ffor we saw the country languish very much, ffor they could not subsist, &
moreover they weare afraid of us. The councell is called, but we had no
need to make a speech, finding them disposed to make the voyage & to
submitt. "Yee women gett your husbands' bundles ready. They goe to gett
wherwithall to defend themselves & you alive."
Our equipage was ready in 6 dayes. We embarked ourselves. We weare in
number about 500, all stout men. We had with us a great store of castors'
skins. We came to the South. We now goe back to the north, because to
overtake a band of men that went before to give notice to others. We passed
the lake without dangers. We wanted nothing, having good store of corne &
netts to catch fish, which is plentyfull in the rivers. We came to a place
where 8 Iroquoits wintered. That was the company that made a slaughter
before our departure from home. Our men repented now they did not goe
sooner, ffor it might be they should have surprised them.
Att last we are out of those lakes. One hides a caske of meale, the other
his campiron, & all that could be cumbersome. After many paines & labours
wee arrived to the Sault of Columest, so called because of the Stones that
are there very convenient to make tobacco pipes. We are now within 100
leagues of the french habitation, & hitherto no bad encounter. We still
found tracks of men which made us still to have the more care and guard of
ourselves. Some 30 leagues from this place we killed wild cowes & then gott
ourselves into cottages, where we heard some guns goe off, which made us
putt out our fires & imbark ourselves with all speed. We navigated all that
night. About the breake of day we made a stay, that not to goe through the
violent streames for feare the Ennemy should be there to dispute the
passage. We landed & instantly sent 2 men to know whether the passage was
free. They weare not halfe a mile off when we see a boat of the ennemy
thwarting the river, which they had not done without discovering our boats,
having nothing to cover our boats nor hide them. Our lightest boats shewed
themselves by pursueing the ennemy. They did shoot, but to no effect, which
made our two men come back in all hast. We seeing ourselves but
merchandmen, so we would not long follow a man of warre, because he runned
swifter then ours.
We proceeded in our way with great diligence till we came to the carriage
place, where the one halfe of our men weare in readinesse, whilst the other
halfe carried the baggage & the boats. We had a great alarum, but no hurt
done. We saw but one boat, but have seene foure more going up the river.
Methinks they thought themselves some what weake for us, which persuaded us
[of] 2 things: 1st, that they weare afraid; andly, that they went to warne
their company, which thing warned us the more to make hast.
The 2nd day att evening after we landed & boyled an horiniack which we
killed. We then see 16 boats of our ennemy coming. They no sooner perceived
us but they went on the other side of the river. It was a good looke for us
to have seene them. Our wildmen did not say what they thought, ffor they
esteemed themselves already lost. We encouraged them & desired them to have
courage & not [be] afraid, & so farr as I think we weare strong enough for
them, that we must stoutly goe & meet them, and they should stand still. We
should be alltogether, & put our castors' skins upon pearches, which could
keepe us from the shott, which we did. We had foure & 20 gunns ready, and
gave them to the hurrons, who knewed how to handle them better then the
others. The Iroquoits seeing us come, & that we weare 5 to 1, could not
imagine what to doe. Neverthelesse they would shew their courage; being
that they must passe, they putt themselves in array to fight. If we had not
ben with some hurrons that knewed the Iroquoits' tricks, I believe that our
wild men had runned away, leaving their fusiques behind. We being neere one
another, we commanded that they should row with all their strength towards
them. We kept close one to another to persecut what was our intent. We
begin to make outcryes & sing. The hurrons in one side, the Algonquins att
the other side, the Ottanak, the panoestigons, the Amickkoick, the
Nadonicenago, the ticacon, and we both encouraged them all, crying out with
a loud noise. The Iroquoits begin to shoot, but we made ours to goe one
forwards without any shooting, and that it was the onely way of fighting.
They indeed turned their backs & we followed them awhile. Then was it that
we weare called devils, with great thanks & incouragements that they gave
us, attributing to us the masters of warre and the only Captaynes. We
desired them to keepe good watch and sentry, and if we weare not surprized
we should come safe and sound without hurt to the ffrench. The Iroquoite
seeing us goe on our way, made as if they would leave us.
We made 3 carriages that day, where the ennemy could doe us mischief if
they had ben there. The cunning knaves followed us neverthelesse pritty
close. We left 5 boats behind that weare not loaden. We did so to see what
invention our enemy could invent, knowing very well that his mind was to
surprize us.
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