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Tiohcj-o I etc \(/unnm+ua _* 'j/t/iuriiuije Jroqnots ^^ a}na Mctions 9 tftf nlsaiiJ-ei- '^ Jpihmottsi-^eChu7)hj rSaticj'es, ..=-.J^iii^^;tP;4- Iroquois jroqnoW Jjfatior^^ THE EARLY JESUIT MISSIONS nn NORTH AMERICA; COMPILED AND TRANSLATED FROM THE LETTERS OF THE FRENCH JESUITS, WITH NOTES. BY THE RIGHT REV. WILLIAM INGRAHAM KIP, D.D., Bishop of Oxlifomia, Honorarv Member N. T, Historical Society. ALBANY, N. Y. : PEASE & PRENTICE, 83 STATE STREET, 1866. ■KB 3 IB Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, By William Ingraham Kip, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of tlie United States for the Northern District of New Yorlc. MUNSELL, PRINTER, ALBANY. TO THE HON. GEORGE FOLSOM, IN REMEMBRANCE OP MANY PLEASANT HOURS PASSED IN HIS COMPANY THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED AS A SLIGHT TESTIMONY OP REGARD. •># h) 1 PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. This work was first published in 1845. It was the first time this ehp.ptcr of history had been placed before the public in this couutry, and it met with a hearty reception. Having been out of print for many years, the publishers think they are performing an ac- ceptable service to the public in issuing this new edition, with the addition of an index. Albany, 1866. CONTENTS. rvlissionary Life among the Abnakis. 1722 The Wanderings o:' Father Rasles. 1689—1723 The Death of Father Rasles. 1724 Catherine, the Iroquois Saint. 1658 — 1715 The Iroquois Martyrs. 1688—1693 . Montcalm's Expedition to Destroy Fort George. 1757 Father Marest's Journeys through Illinois and Michigan. 1712 \ .-ag3 up the Mississippi. 1727 Mission to the Arkansas. 1727 The Massacre by the Natchez. 1729 ^ ',« f Pagb 1 ' 21 67 79 117 137 191 229 255 265 The Mission to the Illinois. 1750 313 iv's I PREFACE. Page 1 21 67 79 117 137 191 229 . 255 . 265 . 313 There is no page of our country's history more touching and romantic, than that which records the labors and suf- ferings of the Jesuit Missionaries. In these western wilds they were the earliest pioneers of civilization and faith. The wild hunter or the adventurous traveller, who, pene- trating the forests, came to new and strange tribes, often found that years before, the disciples of Loyola had pre- ceded him in that wilderness. Traditions of the " Black robes" still lingered among the Indians. On some moss- grown tree they pointed out the traces of their work, and in wonder he deciphered, carved side by side on its trunk, the emblem of our salvation and the lilies of the Bourbons. Amid the snows of Hudson's Bay — among the woody isl- ands and beautiful inlets of the St. Lawrence — by the coun- cil fires of the Hurons and the Algonquins — at the sources of the Mississippi, where, first of the white men, their eyes looked upon the Falls of St. Anthony, and then traced down the course of the bounding river, as it rushed onward to earn its title of " Father of Waters " — on the vast prairies of Illinois and Missouri — among the blue hills which hem in the salubrious dwellings of the Cherokees — and in the thick canebrakes of Louisiana — everywhere were found the members of the " Society of Jesus." Marquette, Joliet, Brebeuf, Jogues, Lallemand, Rasles, and Marest, are the names which the West should ever hold in remembrance. E 5 n via PREFACE. I n . But it was only by suffering and trial that these early laborers won their triumphs. Many of them too were men who had stood ' ^h in camps and courts, and could con- trast their desolate state in the solitary wigwam with the refinement and affluence which had waited on their early years. But now all these were gone. Home — tl^e love of kindred — the golden ties of relationship — ail were to be for- gotten by these stern and high-wrought men, and they were often to go forth into the wilderness, without an ad- viser on their way, save their God. Through long and sorrowful years they were obliged to " sow in tears" before they could " reap in joy." Every self-denial gathered around them which could wear upon the spirit and cause the heart to fail. Mighty forests were to be threaded on foot, and the great lakes of the West passed in the feeble bark canoe. Hunger and cold and disease were to be en- countered, until nothing but the burning zeal within could keep alive the wasted and sinking frame. But worse than all we e those spiritual evils which forced them to weep and pray in darkness. They had to endure the contradic- tion of those thev came to save, who often after listenino- for months with apparent interest, so that the Jesuit began to hope they would soon be numbered with his converts, suddenly quitted him with cold and derisive words, and turned again to the superstitions of their tribe. Most of them too were martyrs to their faith. It will be noticed in reading this volume, how few of their number " died the common death of all men," or slept at last in the grounds which their Church had consecrated. Some, like Jogues and du Poisson and Souel, sunk beneath the blows of the infuriated savages, and their bodies were thrown out to feed the vulture, whose shriek, as he flapped his wings above them, had been their only requiem. Others, like Brebeuf and Lallemand and Senat, died at the stake, and their ashes " flew no marble tells us whither," while the % PREFACE. IX 3, and wings -m :4 dusky sons of the forest stood around, and mingled their wild yells of triumph with the martyrs' c'ying prayers. Others again, like the aged Marquette, sinking beneath years of toil, fell aslee]) in the wilderness, and their sorrow- ing companions dug their graves in tiic green turf, where for many years the rude forest ranger stopped to invoke their names, and bow in prayer before the cross which marked the spot. But did these things stop the progress of the Jesuits ? The sons of Loyola never retreated The mission they founded in a tribe ended only with the extinction of the tribe itself. Their lives were made up of fearless devoted- ness and heroic self-sacrifice. Though sorrowing for the dead, they pressed forward at once to occupy their places, and, if needs be, share their fate. " Nothing " — wrote Father le Petit after describing the martyrdom of two of his breth- ren — " nothing has happened to these two excellent mission- aries for which they were not prepared when they devoted themselves to the Indian Missions." .If the flesh trembled, the spirit seemed never to falter. Each, one indeed felt that he was "baptized for the- dead," and that his own blood, poured out in the mighty forests of the West, would bring down perhaps greater blessings on those for whom he died, than he could win for thom by the labors of a life. He realized that he was " appointed unto death." " Ibo, et non redibo," were the prophetic words of Father Jogues, when, for the last time, he departed to the Mohawks. When Lallemand was bound to the stake, and for seven- teen hours his excruciating agonies were prolonged, his words of encouragement to his (companion were, " Brother ! we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men." When Marquette was setting out for the sources of the Mississippi, and the friendly Indians who had known him, wished to turn hmi from his purpose by declaring " Those distant nations never spare the stran- PREFACE. n i gers," the calm reply of the missionaiywas, "I shall gladly- lay down my life for the salvation of souls." And then, the red sons of the wilderness bowed with him in prayer and before the simple cross of ced'ir, and among the stately groves of elm and maple which line the St. Lawrence, there rose that old chant which the aged man had been accustomed to hear in the distant Cathedrals of his own land — " Vexilla Regis prodeunt ; Fulget Crucis mysterium."* But how little is known of all these men ! The history of their bravery and sufferings, touching as it is, has been comparatively neglected. And it is to supply in some de- gree this deficiency, and to give at least a specimen of what the early Jesuits endured and dared, that this volume has been prepared. It is sent forth merely as a contribu- tion to the historical records of the country. The early Jesuit missions form indeed a page of our history which has never yet been written, and the interest which the writer has taken in them 4s entirely accidental. During the last year he found in a bookstore in Europe, a set of the " Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, Ecrites des Missions Etrangeres," in thirty-four volumes, scattered through which are letters from the Jesuits in our own country. There are but few copies of this ^^^ork in America, and it is thus rendered inaccessible to most persons, while its size would prevent others from attempting to investigate it. It has therefore remained only as a storehouse from which some of our historip,ns have drawn occasional facts with regard to the early discoveries in our country. Having become interested in reading it, the writer determined to * The banners of Heaven's king advance. The myLiery of the Cross shines for.h. Bancroft's United States^ voh iii. 156 PREFACE. attempt a literal translation of the letters from our own part of the continent. The notes he has added throughout the work are designated by brackets. The map prefixed is a facsimile of one published by the Jesuits in 1604, and is to be found in the " Relation de ce qui s'est passe en la Nouvelle France, en Tannee 1664." It would have been easy to have woven the history of some of these missionaries into a romantic and touch- ing narrative, but the writer preferred allowing them to speak for themselves, and to tell the"r own story. It is more interesting to read the very words these earnest laborers wrote more than a century ago, when camping in the wilderness, or sharing the wigwams of the rude savage. They portray their own views ^d feelings. They lead us, as no one else does, into the inner and pri- vate hfe of our Aborigines. Some parts of the volume contain in successive letters the entiro missionary life of an individual. Such are the the first two, which give the labors of Rasles as related by himself, while the third, by Father de la Chasse, concludes the account by the narrative of his death. So again, the eighth gives the diary of Father du Poisson from the time of his arrival in New Orleans, until he reached the distant scene of his labors among the Arkansas — the ninth is his own account of his missionary field — and the tenth, by an- other Jesuit, tells of his martyrdom two years afterwards in the massacre by the .Natchez. The fourth letter in this volume, containing the life of the Mohawk maiden whose reputation still lives in the tradition of the North, as the Geneveva of New France, shows how the faith was pre- sented to these savages, and how they received it. The sixth gives us for the first time an account of the expedition of Montcalm, written at the time by an eye-witness, while the journeys of Father Marest over the wide prairies of Hi ■•a ii Xii PREFACE. :P Illinois and Michigan, by their romantic interest, we think, will arrest the attention of every reader. It has ever been through life the object of the writer, to reverence goodness wherever seen and by whatever name it may be cai'<^d, and therefore he is willing to pay his tribute to the fearless devotedness of these men. His heart can respond with joy to the triumphs they won for the Cross, when the wild tribes of the West bowed to the Emblem of our common faith,* even though he differs widely from them in their theology, and feels that often, as in the case of Catherine, the superstitions and errors of their system broke a noble spirit which might otherwise have lived for years, a light in the wilderness. Yet beau- tiful, notwithstanding all this, was the life of the Mohawk maiden — beautiful for the faith it showed, and the stern devotion beneath which even the body was crushed, — and sweetly solemn in the ears of the Iroquois must have sounded the Dies Ires, as they slowly bore her remains over the plain of the Madeleine to their last resting-place. But let not any carry this feeling too far, or from admi- ration of the romance which gathers around the labors of the Jesuits, feel as if the claim of devotedness was to be confined to them alone. Our own Church has equally her Acta Sanctorum, and he who with an unquickened puisc can read the record of her sons who " counted not their lives dear unto themselves," must be sadly wanting #, I'he Priest Believed liimself the fables that he taught : Corrupt their forms, and yet those forms at least Preserv'd a salutary faith that "wrought, Maugre the alloy, the saving end it sought. Benevolence had gain'd such empire there, That ever; superstition had heen brought An aspect of humanity to wear. And make the weal of man its first and only cfi 5 '^ Sonthe7/s Tale of Paraguay^ Cant. iv. 10. i PREFACE. xui X.-' in a true appreciation of all that is self-denying and holy. The annals of no Church give a loftier picture of self- sacrifice than that furnished by Henry Martyn, when he abandoned the honors of academic life and exchanged his happy home at Cambridge for the solitary bungalow at Dinapore — the daily disputes with his Moonshee and Pundit — or the bitter opposition of the Mahommedans at Shiraz. And no where do we read of a nobler martyr- dom than his, when he lay expiring at Tocat, without a friend to close his eyes or a sympathizing voice to ad- dress him. So too it was when Heber left the peaceful retreat of Hodnet, to suffer and die under the burning heats of India, or Selwyn r\ our day consecrated him- self to this cause among the wild savages of New Zea- land. But the time would fail us were we to speak of Buchanan, or Thomason, or Middleton, or James, or Cor- rie, — " these all died in the faith" — or of Wilson, and Spen- cer, and Broughton, and Carr, who in this generation went out to distant heathen lands, "not knovviiig the things which should befall them there." Many a humble Mis- sionary indeed, who is now suffering from poverty and an unhealthy climate in our own western wilds, and whose record is written only in Heaven, is " dying daily" and enduring as true a martyrdom for the Gospel's sake, as any Jesuit whose history is given in this volume. There is one thought however which has constantly oc- curred to us in the preparation of these letters, and which we cannot but suggest. Look over the world and read the history of the Jesuit missions. After one or two generations they have always come to naught. There is not a recorded instance of their permanency, or their spreading each generation wider and deeper, like our own missions in India. Thus it has been in China, Japan, South America, and our own land. For centuries the J esuit fore'fi missionaries have been like those " beating ■'■'■/if m 10. f tK' xiv PREFACE. 'a H.\ 11 ill the air." And yet, greater devotion to the cause than theirs has never been seen since the Apostles' days. Why then was this result ? If " the blood of the mar- tyrs be th3 seed of the Church," why is this the only instance in which it has not proved so ? Must there not have been something wrong in the whole system — some grievous errors mingled with their teaching, which thus denied them a measure of success proportioned to their efforts ? The preparation of this volume has formed the relax- ation of the writer, when he wished at times to turn from the severer studies of his profession. Probably he should not have ventured to send it to the press, but for the en- couragement of one, whose own publications have rendered his name well known to the students of historical research in our country, and who amidst the engrossing cares of active life, can still cultivate those scholar-like tastes and acquirements, which unfortunately are so rare among u" ^ To him therefore the writer felt he could most appropri- ately inscribe this volume. i m m h MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE ABNAKIS 1722. m I'i F£ Mo: [#( rians signs 3eep [tN presei [JT name : butaf thepr LETTER I. PEOM FATHET» SEBASTIEN RASLES,* MISSIONAB.Y OP THE SOCIETY OF JESUS IN NEW FRANCE, 70 MONSIEUR, HIS NEPHEW. At Nonrantsouak^t this 15th of October, 1723. MONSIEUR, MY DEAR NEPHEW, The Peace of our Lord be icith you : During the more than thirty years that I have passed in the depth of the forests with the Savages, I have been so occupied in instructing them, and training them to Christian virtues, that I have scarcely h?d time to write many letters, even to those who are most dear to me. I cannot, however refuse you the little detail of my occupations for which you ask. I owe it, indeed, to the gratitude I feel for the strong interest which your friendship induces you to take in all that concerns me. I am in a district of that vast extent of country which is between Acadia and New England. Two other Missionaries, as well as myself, are engaged there among the AhnakisX Indians, [* Charlevoix .writes the name Rasles. The early New England histo- rians spell it RalU, while the missionary himself in a letter of Nov, 1712, signs it Rale. The latter form has been adopted by Francis in his Life. Seep. 164.] [t Now Norridgivock in Maine. The little Indian village was near the present site of this town, on a beautiful bend oi' the river.] [t The meaning of this Indian word is, " Men of the East," and it was a name formerly given to all the tribes on the Eastern coast of the continent, but afterwards restricted to those inhabiting Nova Scotia, the territory of the present state of Maine, and a part of Canada. Francis^ Life of Rale, 2 JESUITS IN AMERICA. V •■ !i;i'i m but wo aro separated very far from each other. Tlio Ahnalcis ludiaiiH, besides the two vilhige.s which they have in the midst of the Frencii colony, have also three other considerable settle- uients on the borders of a river. There arc three rivers which empty into the sea, to the south of Canada, between New Eng- land and Acadia. The village in which I live is called Nanrantsoua/i, and is situated on the banks of a river which empties into the sea, at the distance of thirty leagues below. I have erected a Ciiurcli there, which is neat and elegantly ornamented. I have, indeed, thought it my duty to spare nothing either in the decoration of the build- ing itself, or in the beauty of those articles which aro used in our holy ceremonies. Vestments, chasubles, copes, and holy vessels, all are highly appropriate, and would be esteemed so even in our Churches in Europe. I have also formed a little choir of about forty young Indians, who assist at Divine Service in cassocks and surplices. They have each their own appropriate functions, as much to serve in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as to chant the Divine Offices for the consecration of the Holy Sacrament, and for the processions which they make with great crowds of Indians, who often come from a long distance to engage in these exercises; and you would be edified by the beautiful order they observe and the devotion they show.* p. 1 G6. In all cases through this volume the orthography of proper names has been strictly preserved, as written by the Jesuits. It is interesting sometimes to see the changes thi'ough which names have since passed.] [* The following extract from Whitticr's beautiful poem of Mogg Megone places before us the scene which in those days must have been witnessed on the spot : — " On the brow of a hill, which slopes to meet The flowing river, and bathe its feet — The bare-washed rock, and the drooping grass, And the creeping vine as the waters pass — A rude and unshapely chapel stands, Built up in that wild by unskilled hands J MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE AUNAKIS. Megone M They liuvo built two Cluipels at three hundred pticcH distaiieo from the vilhige ; the one, whieh is dedicated to the Holy Virgin, and where ean bo Keen her image in relief, is above on tlie river ; the other, which in dedicated to the Guardian Angel, is below, ou the same river. As they are both on the road which leads either into the woods or into the fields, the Indians can never pass without offering up their prayers. There is a holy emulation among thi; feuuiles of the village, as to who shall most ornament the Chapel of which they have care, when the procession is to take place there : all who have any jewelry, or pieces of silk or calico, or other things of that kind, employ them to adorn it. The great blaze of light contributes not a little to the beauty of the Church and of the Chapels, it not being necessary for mo to be saving of the wax, for the country itself furnishes it abun- dantly. The islands of the sea arc bordered by a kind of wild laurel which in autumn produces a berry a little like that borne by the juniper. They fill their kettles with these, and boil them with water. In proportion as the water thickens, the green wax rises to the surface, where it remains. From a measure of about Yet the traveller knows it a place of prayer, For the holy sign of the Cross is there ; And should he chance at that place to be, Of a Sabbath morn, or some hallowed day, When prayers are made and masses are said, Some for the living, and some for the dead, — Well might the traveller start to see The tall dark forms, that take their way From the birch canoe, on the river shore, And the forest path.s, to that chapel door ; And marvel to mark the naked knees And the du.sky Ibroheads bending these, — And, stretching his long thin anus over these In blessing and in i^'ayer. Like a shrouded spectre, pale and tall, In his coarse white vesture, Father Rallel"'] • fj M 1*,] I! ' JESUITS IN AMERICA. ill ;.. , iii'^ I:ii >! i !;(;i. iU ifMf I- ^ si;.:-. Ill 1. i: three bushels of this berry, can be made almost four pounds of wax ; it is very pure and beautiful, but neither sweet nor pliable. After several trials I have found, that by mingling with it an equal quantity of fat, either of beef or mutton, or of the elk, beautiful tapers can be made, firm, and excellent for use. With twenty-four pounds of wax and as much of fat, can be made two hundred tapers of more than a foot in length. A vast quan- tity of these laurels are found on the islands and on the borders of the sea, so that one person in a day can easily gather four measures, or twelve bushels of the berry. It hangs down like grapes from the branches of the tree. I have sent one branch of it to Quebec, together with a cake of the wax, and it has been found to be very excellent. None of my neophytes fail to repair twice in each day to the Church, early in the morning to hear Mass, and in the evening to assist at the prayers, which I oflFer up at sunset. As it is neces- sary to fix the imagination of these Indians, which is too easily distracted, I have composed some appropriate prayers for them to make, to enable them to enter into the spirit of the august sacri- fice of our altars. They chant them, or else recite them in a loud voice during Mass. Besides the Sermons which I deliver before them on Sundays and festivai-da^s, I scarcely pass a week-day without making a short exhortation to inspire them with a horror of those vices to which they are most addicted, or to strengthen them in the practice of some virtue. After the Mas^i, I teach the Catechism to the children and young persons, while a large number of aged people, who are present, assist and answer with perfect docility the questions which I put to them. The rest of the morning, even to mid-day, is set apart for seeing those who wish to speak with me. They come to me in crowds, to make me a participator in their pain^^ and inquietudes, or to communicate to me causes of complaint against their countrymen, or to consult me on their marriages ■m m 3 > :?^ ft . If ' MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE ABNAKIS. lages and other aflFairs of importance. It is, therefore, necessary for me to instruct some, to console others, to re-establish peace in families at variance, to calm troubled consciences, to correct others by reprimands mingled with softness and charity ; in fine, as far as it is possible, to render them all contented. After mid-day, I visit the sick and go round among the cabins of those who require more particular instructions. If they hold a council, which is often the case with these Indians, they depute one of the principal men of the assembly to ask me to assist in their deliberations. I accordingly repair to the place where their council is held ; if I think that they are pursuing a wise course, I approve of it ; if, on the contrary, I have anything to say in opposition to their decision, I declare my sentiments, supporting them by weighty reasons, to which they conform. My advice always fixes th.r resolutions. They do not even hold their fgasts witliout inviting me. Those who have been asked carry each one a dish, of wood or bark to the place of entertainment. I give the benediction on the food, and they place in each dish the portion which has been prepared. After this distribution has been made I say grace, and each one retires ; for such is the order and usage of their feasts. In the midst of such continual occupations, you cannot imagine with what rapidity the days pass by. There have been seasons, when I scarcely had time to recite my Office, or to take a little repose during the night ; for discretion is not a virtue which par- ticularly belongs to the Indians. But for some years past I have made it a rule, not to speak with any person from the prayers in the evening until the time of mass on the next morning. I have therefore forbidden them to interrupt me during this period, except for some very important reason, as, for example, to assist a person who is dying, or some other afi"air of the kind which it is impossible to put ofi". I set apart this time to spend in prayer, or to repose myself from the fatigues of the day. I 1 F"! »*• 1 JESUITS IN AMERICA. if' I! 1 '. r m r ij 11 ii !1 H; ^i I •u- When tlie Indians repair to tlie sea-shoro, where they paso some months in hunting the ducks, bustards, and other birds, which are found there in large numbers, they build on an island a Church, which they cover with bark, and near it they erect a little cabin for my residence. I take care to transport thither a part of our ornaments, and the service is performed with the same decency and the same crowds of people as at the village. You see then, my dear nephew, what are my occupations For that which relates to me personally I will say to you, that I neither hear, nor see, nor speak to any but the Indians. My food is very simple and light. I have never been able to con- form my taste to the meat or the smoked fish of the savages, and my nourishment is only composed of corn which they pound, and of which I make each day a kind of hominy, which I boil in water. The only luxury in which I indulge is a little sugar, which I mix with it to correct its insipidity. This is never want- ing in the forest. In the Spring, the maple trees contain a liquor very similar to that which is found in the sugar canes of the Southern Islands. The women employ themselves in collecting this in vessels of bark, as it is distilled from the trees. They then boil it, and draw ofl" from it a vei-y good sugar. That which is drawn off first is always the most beautiful. The whole nation of the Abnakis is Christian, and very zeal- ous to preserve their religion. This attachment to the Catholic faith, has induced them, even to this time, to prefer our alliance, to advantages which might be derived from an alliance with the English who are their neighbors. These advantages would be too of very great importance to our Indians. The facility of trading with the English, from whom they are distant but one or two days' journey, the ease with which the journey can be made, the admirable market they would find there for the purchase of the merchandise which suits them : these things certainly hold out very great inducements. In place of which, in going to y zeal- atliolic liance, h the ulcl be ity of one or made, asc of y hold )mg to MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE ABNAKIS 7 Quebec, it is necessary to take more tlian a fortniglu to reach there, they hi V3 to furnish themselves with provisions for the journey, they nave different rivers to pass, and frecj^uent portages to make.* They are aware of these inconveniences, and are by no means indiflferent to their interests, but their faith is infinitely more dear to them, and they believe that if they detach them- Bc'ves from our alliance, they will shortly find themselves without a missionary, without sacrameits, without a sacrifice, with scarcely any exercise of their religion, and in manifest danger of being replunged into their former heathenism. This is the bond which unites them to the French. Attempts have been vainly made to break it, sometimes by wiles which were held out to their simplicity, and sometimes by acts of violence, which could not fail to irritate a nation exceedingly jealous of its rights and liberties. The commencement of this misunderstanding could not but alarm me, for it made me fear the dispersion of that little community which Providence had for so many years confided to my care, and for the sake of which I would willingly sacrifice what remains to me of life. Let me mention to you then some of the difibrent artifices to which the English had re- course to detach them from our alliance. The Governor-general of New England, some years ago, sent to the lower part of the river, the most able of the ministers of Boston,! to establish there a school to instruct the children of the Indians, and maintain them at the expence of the govern- ■'''.. =* To make a portage is to transport their canoe and baggage from one river to another, with which it has no communication. These portages are sometimes of many leagues, and it is the principal reason which induces the Indians to use canoes of bark, since they are very light and easily trans- ported. [t This, as we learn from his Tournal, which is still preserved in Boston, was the Rev. Joseph Baxter of Medfield, Mass. He graduated at Harvard College in 1693, and had a high reputation in the colony at that time,] m r-u Pf, >.;■ 8 JESUITS IN AMERICA. t'n : fi!! :: : ii ili ment. As the pay of the minister was to increase in proportion to the number of scholars, he neglected nothing which could at- tract them. He went himself to seek them out; he caressed them ; he made them little presents ; he pressed them to come and see him ; in fine, he gave himself the trouble of many use- less manoeuvres during two months, without being able to gain a single child. The contempt which they showed for his caresses and his invitations did not repulse him. He therefore addressed himself to the Indians themselves ; he put to them different questions with regard to their belief, and on hearing the answers they made, he turned into ridicule the Sacraments, Purgatory, the Invocation of Saints, the Rosary, the Cross and Images, the lighting of our Churches, and all those practices of piety so sa- credly observed in the Catholic religion. I thought it my duty to oppose these first seeds of seduction, and therefore wrote a frank letter to the minister, in which I re- marked to him, that my Christians knew how to believe the veri- ties the Catholic faith set forth, but were not able disputants ; that since they were not sufficiently learned to resolve the diffi- culties he had proposed, he apparently had intended they should be communicated to me, and that I therefore would avail myself with pleasure of this occasion which oiTered, to confer with him either orally or by letters ; that with this I would send him a manuscript, which I would beg him to read with serious atten- tion. In this manuscript, which was about a hundred pages in length, I proved from Scripture, from tradition, and from theo- logical arguments, those truths which he had attacked with so much misplaced pleasantry. I added also, in finishing my letter, that if he was not satisfied with my proofs, I should expect from him a refutation precise and sustained by theological arguments, not by vague reasons which proved nothing, still less by injurious reflections, which were neither suited to our profession, nor to the importance of the subjects in dispute. MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE ABNAKIS. roportion could at- caressed to come nany use- to gain a J caresses addressed different 3 answers *urgatory, nages, the iety so sa- seduction, rhich I re- e the veri- isputants ; the diffi- ley should ail myself with him end him a ous atten- pages iu rom theo- 3d with so mv letter. :pcct from irguments, y injurious nor to the Two days after ho had received my letter, he departed to re- turn to Boston, sending me a short answer, which I was obliged to read over many times before I could compreliend its meaning, the style was so obscure and the Latin so extraordinary. I com- prehended at last, by dint of study, that he complained I had at- tacked him without reason ; that zeal for the salvation of their souls had led him to show the way to Heaven to these Indians, and that, for the rest, my proofs were childish and ridiculous. Having sent to him at Boston a second letter, in which I set forth his blunders,* he answered me at the end of two years, without entering into the subject in dispute, merely declaring that I exhibited a spirit jealous and critical, and which bore the marks of a temperament inclined to be choleric, f Thus termi- nated our dispute, which banished the minister, and obliged him to abandon the project he had formed of seducing away my neophytes. This first attempt having met with so little success, they had recourse to another artifice. An Englishman asked permission of the Indians to build on their river a kind of storehouse, to en- able him to trade with them, and he promised to sell them his goods at a much more favorable rate even than they could pur- chase in Boston. The Indians, who found it for their advantage, and were thus spared the trouble of a journey to Boston, willing- [* He found fault -witli amicus, used as an adjective instead of a substan- tire : with mererc^ which should have been the deponent mereri; with wiixV, in the sense of a mill instead of a millstone ; with domus for the accusative plural, which, the critic asserted, should be domos^ and the like." — Francis^ Life, p. 258.] [t Dr. Francis says, he has seen this letter, which was in the possession of a connection of the Baxter family. It was either a copy kept by Mr. Bax- ter, or was sent back to him after the seizure of Rale's papers. It has now been placed among the papers of the Mass. Hist. Society. In it the writer gives a stout defence of his grammar, and then, " turns the edge of the eofitical knife upon Rale's own style."] 2* V ffl FT ^^% 10 JESUITS IN AMERICA. '11 ,i ly consented. Another Englishman, a short time afterwards, asked the same permission, offering conditions even more advan- tageous than the first. It was accorded to him with equal wil- lingness. This easiness of the Indians emboldened the English to establish themselves on tne whole length of the river, without even asking permission, and they built their houses there, and erected their forts, three of which were of stone. This proximity of the English was at first a source of pleasure to tlic Indians, who did not perceive the snare which had been laid for them, and who only looked at the satisfaction they ex- perienced in finding their new guests to be all they could desire. But at length, seeing themselves insensibly surrounded, as it were, by the habitations of the English, they began to open their eyes and to feel a mistrust. They demanded of the English, by what right they thus established themselves on their lands, and even erected their forts there. The answer which they received, that the King of France had ceded cheir country to the King of England, threw them into the greatest alarm ; for there is no In- dian nation but suffers most impatiently what they regard as sub- jection to any other power, whatever it may be ; they term them indeed their allies, but nothing more. The Indians, therefore, immediately despatched some of their number to M. le Marquis de Vaudrcuil, Governor-general of New France, to learn whether it was true that the king had thus indeed disposed of a country of which he was not the master. It was not difficult to calm their disquietude, for it was only necessary to explain to them the articles of the treaty of Utrecht, which related to the Indi- ans, and they appeared content. About this time a score of Indians had one day entered the dwelling of one of the English, either for the purpose of traffic, or to repose themselves. They had been there but a short time, when they saw the house suddenly surrounded by a company of nearly two hundred armed men. " We are lost," said one of '* MISSIOxXARY LIFE AMONG THE ABNAKIS. 11 irwards, ) advan- aal wil- English without ere, and pleasure ad been they ex- 1 desire, d, as it len their glish, by nds, and received, King of is no In- i as sub- m them lerefore, Marquis whether country to calm to them lie Indi- red the • traffic, )rt time, pany of one of them; "let us sell our lives dearly." They were preparing therefore to rush forth upon the company, when the Englisli, per- ceiving their resolution, and knowing besides of what the savage is capable in the first burst of his fury, endeavored to appease them, assuring them that they had no evil design, and uit they only came to invite some of them to return with them to Boston to confer with the Governor, on the means of cherishing the peace and good intelligence which ought to subsist between the two na- tions. The Indians, a little too credulous, deputed four of their countrymen who should return with them to Boston, but when they arrived there, the conference with which they were amused ended in retaining them as prisoners. You will be surprised, without doubt, that so small a handful of Indians should have pretended to make head against so nu- merous a company as that of the English. But our Indians have performed an i:;finite number of actions which are much more hardy. I will relate to you one only, from which you may judge of the others. During the late wars, a party of thirty Indians were returning from a hostile expedition against the English. As the Indians, and particularly the Abnakis, are entirely unacquainted with guarding against surprises, they slept at their first stopping-place, without even thinking to post a sentinel during the night. A party of six hundred English, commanded by a colonel, pursued them even to their cahanage* and finding them bvried in sleep, he surrounded'them with his company, promising himself that not one of them should escape him. One of the Indians having awakened, and perceiving the English troops, immediately gave notice to his countrymen by crying out according to their custom, " We are lost ; let us sell our lives dearly !" Their resolution * This is the name by which the I'\dians call their place of encampment. When they go to war or to the chase, their first care on arriving at the place where they intend to repose, is to erect their cabins. I n <$ f ft ' , m w ;' '■ *l!T Hlii il iiili w,^ \ ■ " i' ' 1 I IP 12 JESUITS IN AMERICA. was very soon taken. Forming themselves instantly into six parties of five men each, with the hatchet in one hand and the knife in the other, they threw themselves on the English with so much impetuosity and fury, that after having killed more than sixty men, in which number was their colonel, they put the rest to flight. The Abnakis were no sooner informed of the manner in which their countrymen were treated at Boston, than they complained bitterly, that' in the midst of a peace which was existing, they should in this way have violated the rights of nations. The English answered, that they only retained the prisoners as hos- tages for an injury which had been done in killing some cattle belonging to them ; and that as soon as they repaired this dam- age, which amounted to two hundred pounds of beaver-skins, the prisoners should be released. Although the Abnakis were not convinced of the existence of this pretended damage, yet they did not hesitate to pay the two hundred pounds of beaver, not wish- ing at all, for so small an affair, that any should be able to re- proach them with having abandoned their brethren. Yet, not- withstanding the payment of this contested debt, they refused to set the prisoners at liberty. The Governor of Boston, fearing lest this refusal would drive the Indians to the perpetration of some bold stroke, proposed to hold a conference for the purpose of treating this affair in a spirit of conciliation. They even agreed on the day and the place where it should be held. The Indians repaired thither with Father Bas- ics, their missionary. Father de la Chasse, Superior General of the Missions, who made them at this time a visit, went also ; but Monsieur the Governor did not appear. The Indians drew un- favorable inferences from his absence, and took measures to ac- quaint him with their sentiments by means of a letter, written in their own tongue, in English, and in Latin, which Father de la Chasse, who was acquainted with these three languages, was r4 into six and the I with so ore than the rest in which npiaincd ng, they IS. The •s as hos- ne cattle :his dam- kins, the were not they did not wish- 3le to re- Yet, not- efused to did drive )posed to a a spirit ice where ther Ras- eneral of ilso ; but drew un- res to ac- rritten in ler de la igeSj was MISSIONARY LIFK AMONG THE ABNAKIS. 13 ch irgcd to prepare. It of course appeared useless to employ any other Uiuguage but the English, yet the Father was well satisfied that it should be so, bccauj^e on the one hand, the Indians would know fur tliemselves that the letter contained nothing but what thoy had dictated, and on the other hand, the English would liavo no reason to doubt, but that the translation into their own lan- guage was a faithful one. The amount of the letter was this : 1st. That the Indians could not comprehend, why they still re- tained their coimtrymen in irons, after the promise which had been given to restore them to liberty as soon as the two hundred pounds of beaver were paid. 2d. That they were no less surpris- ed to see that they had seized on their country without permis- Bion. 3d. That t'ne English should leave it as soon as possible, and also release the prisoners : that they would await tlieir an- swer for two months, and if after that time they should refuse to give them any satisfaction, they would then know how to obtain justice for themselves. It was in the month of July, of the year 1721, that this letter was carried to Boston by some English who had assisted at the Conference. As the two months passed without bringing any answer from Boston, and besides, the English ceased to sell I'o the Abnakis powder, and lead, and provisions, as they had done before this dispute, our Indians were disposed to make reprisals. It required all the influence which the Marquis de Vaudreuil possessed over their minds, to induce them as yet for some time to suspend the violence they meditated. But their patience was pushed to an extreme by two acts of hostility which the English perpetrated in the end of December, 1721, and in the beginning of the year 1722. The first was their carrying ofi" M. de Saint-Casteins. This officer was a Lieutenant in our army. His mother was an Abnakis Indian, and he had al- ways lived among the Indians, whose esteem and confidence he had won to such a degree, that they had chosen him their Com- m m m rm J, : I. 1 i'; 1 ; I ' i 'Mi jft! 5 4 v It U.J - V.-r 14 JESUITS IN AMERICA. mandcr General. In this capacity he could not excuse himself from assisting at the conference of wliicli I have spoken, where he interested himself in promoting the interests of the Abnakis, his countrymen. The English charged this on him as a crime, and despatched a small vessel to the place o^ his residence. Tlio cap- tain took care to conceal his people, with the exception of two or three men whom he left on the deck. Having invited M. de Saint- Casteins, with whom ho was acquainted, to come on board and take some refreshments, the latter havin^g i\o reason to distrust him accepted it and repaired thither without any attendants, But scarcely had he arrived, when they set sail and carried him off to Boston. There, they placed him on the prisoner's stand, and questioned him as a criminal. They demanded of him among other things, why, and in what capacity he had assisted at the conference which was held with the Indians ; what was the mean- ing of the uniform which he wore ; and whether he had not been sent to that assembly by the Governor of Canada. M. de Saint- Casteins answered, that he was an Abnakis on his mother's side ; that his whole life had been spent among the Indians ; that his countrymen having elected him chief of their nation, he was obliged to ttend their councils, to sustain their interests there ; that it was in this capacity only that he had assisted at the last conference ; that fc7 the rest, the dress which he wore was not at all a uniform, as they had imagined ; that it was in truth appro- priate and sufficiently ornamented, but not above his rank, inde- pendently even of the honor which he had to be an officer in our army. Monsieur, our Governor, having been apprised of the detention of M, de Saint-Casteins, wrote immediately to the Governor of Boston to make his complaints to him. He did not receive any answer to his letter, but as the time drew near when the English Governor expected to receive a second one, he set the prisoner ^t 4 MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE ABNAKIS. 15 !c himself , where he makiH, his ii'ime. and J lie cap- of two or . do Saint- board and distrust ttendants, xried him )r's stand, lim among ed at the the mean- 1 not been de Saint- ler's side ; that his he was ts there ; t the last vas not at ith appro- mk, inde- 3er in our detention vernor of ceive any 3 English prisoner at liberty, after having held him in confinement during five mouths. An enterprise of the English against myself, was the second act of hostility which completed the work of irritating to excess the Abnakis nation. A missionary can hardly fail of being an object of hatred to these gentlemen. The love of religion, which he endeavors to engraven in the hearts of the Indians, is the most efficient means of retaining these neophytes in an alliance, and removing them from that of the English. They therefore regarded me as an invincible obstacle in the way of the design they had formed of extending themselves over the lands of the Abnakis, and thus gradually becoming masters of the re- gion which lies between New England and Acadia. They have often endeavored to carry me off from my flock, and more than once a price has been set upon my head. It was towards the ond of January in the year 1722, that they made a new attempt, which, however, had no other result than to make manifest the ill will they bore me. I had remained alone in the village, with only a small num ber of old men and infirm persons, while the rest of the Indians were at the hunting-grounds. The opportunity seemed to them a favorable one to surprise me, and with this view they sent out a detachment of two hundred men.* Two young Abnakis who were engaged in the chase along the sea-shore, learned that the English had entered the river, and they immediately turned iheir steps in ihat direction to observe their progress. Having perceived them at ten leagues distance from the village, they out- stripped them in traversing the country to give me warning, and to cause the old men, the females, and infants to retire in haste. I had barely time to swallow the consecrated wafers, to crowd the sacred vessels into a little chest, and to save myself in the woods. The English arrived in the evening at the village, and [* This was Colonel Westbrook's expedition.] r'\i fc^. B i ,»"' •i 10 JESUITS IN AMERICA. Ml \( u r r ill I ,1 i 1 i ' not having found uio, camo the following; morning to search for mo, cvon in tho very plaoo to which we had retreated. They wero scarcely a gun-shot distant when wo perceived them, and all I could do was to hide myself with precipitation in tho depths of tho forest. 13ut as I had not time to tako my snow-shoes, and, besides, had considerable weakness remaining from a fall which took place some years before, when my thigh and leg wero broken, it was not possible for me to fly very far. Tho only resource which remained to mo was to conceal myself behind a tree. They began immediately to e^ amine the diflferent paths worn by tho Indians, when they went to collect wood, and they penetrated even to within eight paces of tho tree which concealed me. From this spot it would seem as if they must inevitably discover me, for the trees wero stripped of their leaves ; but as if they had been restrained by an invisible hand, they immediately retraced their steps, and repaired again to the village. It is thus that, through the particular protection of God, I escaped from their hands. They pillaged my Church and humble dwelling,* and thus almost reduced me to a death by famine in tho [* Among other papers seized at this time was his Dictionary of th« Abnaki Language^ on which he had been Ibr years employed. " Tho original manuscript, carefully preserved in strong binding, is now in the library of Harvard College. It is a quarto volume in Rale's own handwriting. On tho first leaf is the following note, written by him in 1691. 'II y a un an que je suis parmi Ics sauvages ; jo commence a mettro en ordre, en forme do dictionnaire, les mots quo j'apprens.' The work is divided into two parts. The first is a dictionary of tho Abnaki dialect, in French and In- dian, the Fi'ench word or phrase being given first, and then the correspond- ing Indian expression, generally, though not uniformly, in distinct columns. Two hundred and five leaves, a comparatively small part of which have writing on both sides, and the remainder on one side only, make up this part. The second part has twenty five leaves, both sides of which are generally filled with writing. It is called Partiatlce, on account of the particles, the Indian words being placed first, and the explanations given in "^ MISSIONARY LIFE AMONO THE ABNAKIS. 17 midst of the woods. It is true, that as soon as they learned my adventure in Quebec, they immediately sent mo provisions ; but these could not arrive until very late, and during all that time I was obliged to live destitute of all succor and in extreme need. These repeated insults induced the Indians to conclude, that they had no further answer to expect, and that it was time to repulse violence, and to cause open force to take the place of pacific negociations. On their return from the hunting-grounds, and after having planted their fields, they formed the resolution to destroy the habitations which the English had lately built, and to remove far from them these un(j[uict and troublesome guests, who were encroaching by degrees upon their lands, and who medi- tated bringing them entirely into subjection. They sent messen- gers to the different villages to interest them in their cause, and to engage their aid in the necessity they were under of making a right defence The deputation met with success. They chanted the war-song among the Hurons of Lorette, and in all the villages of the Abnakis nation. Nanrantsouak was the place French or Latin. One can scarcely look at this important manuscript, with its dingy and venerable leaves, without associations of deep interest with those labors, and that life in the wilderness, of which it is now the only memorial The dictionary was printed in 1833, in the tirst volume of the new series of the Memoirs of the American Academy, under the caro and direction of Mr. John Pickering, who furnished it with an introduction and notes, which enhance its value." Frauds' Life of Rale, p. 294. " The ' strong-box' which contained his papers and inkstand, is also pre- served. It is of a curious and complicated construction. In the lower part is a secret drawer or compartment, to which one unacquainted with the manner of opening it can scarcely find access without breaking the box. On the inside of the lid are pasted two engravings, in a rude style, repre- senting the scourging of Jesus and the crowning with thorns. The box after long continuing in the possession of Col. Westbrook's family, has been deposited by one of his descendants in the collection of the Mass, Hist. So- ciety." Francis> Life, p. 299.J 'ms^ it' (irV;^ Iti :i.rii: I 1 11 ■ "'iiijl mi f\ ri: ■' it I 18 JESUITS IN AMERICA. appointed for the assembling of the warriors, to settle their plans by mutual concert. In the meanwhile the Nanrantsoudkians descended the river, and having arrived at its mouth, they seized three or four little vessels belonging to the English. After again ascending the same river, they pillaged and burnt the new dwellings which the English had erected there. They, however, abstained from all violence towards the inhabitants, even permitting them to retire to their own people, with the exception of five whom they retained as hostages until their countrymen had been given up, who wore now detained in the prisons at Boston. This moderation of the Indians, however, had not the desired eflFect. On the contrary, a party of the English having found sixteen Abnakis asleep on an islf nd, made a general discharge on them, by which five were killed and three wounded. This is a new signal of the war which is about to break out between the English and the Indians. The' latter do not in any way expect aid from the French, on account of the peace which exists between the two nations ; but they have a resource in all the other Indian nations, who will not fail to enter into their quarrel, and to take up their defence. My neophytes, touched by the peril to which I found myself exposed in their village, often urged me to retire for a time to Quebec. But what will become of the flock, if it be deprived of its shepherd ? They have done what they could to represent to me, that in case I should fall into the hands of our enemies, the least which could possibly happen to me would be to languish for the rest of my days in a hard prison. But I close their lips with the words of the Apostle, which divine goodness has deeply engraven on my heart. " Do not at all distress yourselves," I say to them, " as to what concerns me. I do not in the least fear the threats of those who hate me without a cause, ' and I count not my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course, \\ 1.) ■i leir plans the river, bur little the same hich the from all to retire ' retained «vho Wore )n of the contrary, jep on an ive were MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE ABNAKIS. 19 and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus.' " Pray for me, my dear nephew, that He will strengthen in me those sentiments which can have their origin only from His mercy, to the end that I may have power to live and die without ceasing to labor for the salvation of these neglected souls, who are the price of His Wood, and whom he condescended to commit to my care. >reak out ot in any LCe which :ce in all Qto their I myself I time to )rived of resent to tnies, the guish for lips with s deeply elves," I east fear . I count J course, % >/ kj in IP 4 '■" : m ( iiil .' iii i .i ;i "14 .■:i THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES, 1689—1723. ^ '-"m * ^!^m J' ' ^ 4 •1 V^^ ■i Ai:- H, 1 '" 1 1 v,l v ' 1 '/ '• 1 ''J ' -i ■*« ' ^'1 , fi*.! ''1 i lit: I i ■ ■ ■ I'O! ^i' i ;: 1 i FRO] ( in a fore was inha LETTER II. m FROM FATHER SEBASTIEN RASLES, MISSIONARY OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS IN NEW FRANCE, TO MONSIEUR HIS BROTHER. At Nanrantsouak, this 12th of October, 1723. MONSIEUR, MY VERY DEAR BROTHER, The Peace of our Lord be with you : I CANNOT longer resist the kind entreaties which you make in your letters, that I would inform you a little in detail with regard to my occupations, and the character of the Indian tribes among which Providence has for so many years cast my lot. I do so the more willingly, because I know that in conforming to desire so urgent on your part, I shall gratify your affection even more than your curiosity. It was on the 23d of July in the year 1689, that I embarked at Rochelle, and after a pleasant voyage of three months, arrived at Quebec on the 13th of October in the same year. I at once applied myself to learn the language of our Indians. Their lan- guage is indeed very difficult, for it is not sufficient to study its terms and their signification, or to make a collection of words and phrases ; it is necessary also to know the idiomatic turns and arrangements which the Indians give them, which it is scarcely possible to acquire except by intercourse and frequent association with these people. I then went to live in a village of the Abnakis nation, situated in a forest which is but three leagues from Quebec. This village was inhabited by two hundred Indians, almost all of whom were -i-m ■'ji&fi 24 JESUITS IN AMERICA. ! ;. .r' 4^A ill ; ji r ■■■ ! lii 5 in Christians. Their cabins were arranged nearly like the houses in a town, while around them was an enclosure of stakes high and thick, forming a kind of wall, which they had constructed to protect them from the incursions of their enemies. Their cabins are easily built. They plant poles in the earth, which they join at the top, and then cover them with large pieces of bark. The fire they make in the middle of the cabin, and all around it they place mats formed of reeds, on which they sit during the day, and sleep at night. The dress of the men consists of a loose robe of skin, or else of a piece of red or blue cloth. That of the women is one cover- ing, which hangs from the neck to the middle of the leg, and which they arrange with a great deal of propriety. They place another covering on the head, which descends even to their feet, and serves them for a cloak. Their stockings extend only froDi the knee to the ankle. Moccasins made of the skin of deer and lined in the inside with hair or wool, serve them in place of shoes. This moccasin is absolutely necessary to enable them to wear their snow-shoes, by means of which they walk with ease on the snow. These snow-shoes, made in the shape of a lozenge, are more than two feet in length, and one and a half in breadth. I did not think that I should ever be able to walk with such ma- chines ; but when I made the attempt, I found myself imme- diately so expert, that the Indians could not believe it was the first time I had used them. The invention of these snow-shoes is of great use to the Indi- ans, not only to enable them to run on the snow, with which the earth is covered the greater part of the year, but also to go in pursuit of game, and particularly of the elks. These animals, which are larger than the largest bullocks of France, can walk with difficulty through the snow. It is thus easy for the Indians to come up with them, and they often kill them with only a knife ' attached to the end of a stick. They feed on their flesh, and III I THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 25 lOuses ! high ted to earth, pieces md all ley sit or else i cover- 3g, and !y place )ir feet, ly from eer and >f shoes. to wear on the ige, are ,dth. I ich ma- |f imme- Iwas the 18 Indi- lich the bo go in lanimals. Ian walk Indians a knife lesh, and after having well-dressed their skins, in which they are very skil- ful, they use them as articles of traffic with the French and En"*lish. From them tliev receive in cxcliange, their cloth dresses and blankets, their kettles, their guns, their hatchets and knives. To give you an idea of an Indian, imagine to yourself a large man, powerful, active, of a swarthy complexion, without beard, with black hair, and his t- cth whiter than ivory. If you wish to sue him in all his finery, you will find that he has no other orna- ments but beads ; these are a kind of shell or stone, which they form into the shape of little grains, some white and others black, which they string together in such a way as to represent different showy figures with great exactness. It is with these beads that our Indians bind up and plat their hair on their ears and behind ; they make of them pendents for the ears, collars, garters, large sashes of five or six inches in breadth, and on these kinds of or- naments they pride themselves much more than a European would on all his gold and jewelry. The occupation of the men is in the chase or in war ; that of the women is to remain in the village, and to manufacture there with bark baskets, sacks, boxes, dishes, platters, &c. They sew the bark with fibres of roots, and in this way make various arti- cles for household use, very admirably constructed. Their canoes are made in like manner of bark alone, but the largest can scarcely contain more than six or seven persons. It is with these canoes made of bark, which is scarcely thicker than a crown piece, that they cross the arms of the sea, and navi- gate the most dangerous rivers and lakes four or five hundred leagues around. I have thus made many voyages without having run any risk. On one single occasion only, it happened that in crossing the river St. Lawrence, I suddenly found myself sur- rounded by heaps of ice of enormous magnitude, among which the canoe was wedged. The two Indians who conducted me at 3 I' w '. " ^ in} ii- .1 : '■>, ♦ft ■1 ■■4 > 1 ■fi'!' '■■■"• 'il ^:* 26 JESUITS IN AMERICA. r i. I «. .1 I! liiil riii m\ i^' I'lp^^iii r^'ii-pi^ I': ' W m^. once cried out, " Wo arc lost ; it is all over ; we must perish." Nevertheless, making an effort, they leaped on one of the cakes of floating ice. I followed their example, and after having drawn up the canoe, we carried it to the extremity of this piece of ico. There it was necessary again to embark in the canoe for the pur- pose of gaining another cake of ice ; and thus, by loa^jing froui cake to cake, we at length reached the bank of the river, without any other inconvenience than that of being very wet and be- numbed with the cold. Nothing can equal the tenderness which the Indians exhibit towards their children. As soon as they are born, they place them on a little piece of board, covered with cloth and a small bear-skin, in which they wrap them, and this is their cradle. Their mothers carry them on their backs, in a manner convenient both for the infants and themselves. No sooner have the children begun to walk, than they exercise them in using the bow, and in this they become so skilful that at ten or twelve years of age they scarcely ever fail to kill the bird at which they aim. I was very much surprised, and should have had difficulty in believing it, if I had not myself been a witness of their skill. That which was most revolting to me when I commenced living with the Indians was, the necessity of taking my meals with them. Nothing could be more disgusting. After having filled their kettle with victuals, they place it on to boil for about three quar- ters of an hour, after which they take it off the fire, and serve it up on dishes of bark, dividing it among all those who are in the cabin. Each one then eats his food as he would a piece of bread This sight did not give me much appetite, and they soon per- ceived my repugnance. " Why do you not eat ?" they asked me. I answered, that I was not accustomed to eat my food thus, witli- out adding to it a little piece of bread. " It is necessary for you to overcome this," said they. " Is it so difficult for a Father who THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 27 crisb." ! cakes Jrawu of ico. lie pur- g from ivithout md be- exhibit jy place a small cradle, ivenient exercise I that at the hu'd uld have witness ed living th them, ed their rec quar- serve it re in the of bread. 30on per- shed me, lus, witli- ^ for you .ther wlio % understands Prayer* perfectly ? Wc, on our part, have difficul- ties to get over, in order to have faith in what wc cannot see." There was then no room for liesitatiou, for it was necessary to conform to their manners and customs, to the end that I might gain their confidence and win them to Jesus Christ. Their meals are not regular, as is the European custom, for tlicy live from hand to mouth. As long as they have anytliing with which to make a good entertainment, they avail themselves of it, without giving themselves any concern as to how they shall live on the following days. They are passionately fond of tobacco. Men, women, and children smoke almost incessantly. The gift of a small piece of tobacco confers more pleasure upon them tlian the present of their weight in gold. In the commencement of Juno, and when the snow is almost all melted, they plant the skamg)uir, wliich is the name by v/hich they call the Turkish or Indian corn. Their way of planting it is, to make with their fingers, or with a small stick, different holes in the earth, and to throw in each eight or nine grains, which tliey cover with the same earth that they have taken out to make the hole. Their harvest takes place in the end of August. It is among these people, who are esteemed to be less barbar- ous than all the rest^of the Indians, that I passed my novitiate as a missionary. My first occupation was to learn their language, which is very difficult to ac(iuiie, particularly when one has no other instructors than the Indians themselves. They have many guttural sounds which arc only uttered with the throat, without making any movement with the lips. Ou, for example, is of this number, and therefore in writing it, wc mark it by the character », to distinguish it from other sounds. I passed one part of the [*It ■will be remembered that by the P/rtye/, they mean Cliristianity or the fiutli generally. This explanation will be found some pages further ou in this same letter.] ^;. ■ m .' V'lt. /■it'^'.' m * • ■hi :lj !;t' it .! i 9'M' ''^^ * n ^ < ■•ill* i • -lb Sb JESUITS IN AMKIIICA. day in their cabins hearing them talk ; and it was necessary for mo to pay the most particular attention, to combine what thoy said, and conjecture its signification. Sometimes I guessed rightly, but most often I failed, because, not being at all accus- tomed to the management of their guttural sounds, I only repeat- ed a part of the word, and thus furnished them with occasion for laughter. At last, after five months of constant application, I had ad- vanced so far as to understand their terms, but this was not suf- ficient to enable me to express myself according to their taste ; much, therefore, remained for me to do, to acquire the turn and genius of the language, which is entirely different from the turn and genius of our languages in Europe. To shorten the time, and place myself more in a state to exercise my functions, I made choice of some Indians who had the most mind, and who spoke best. I told them in my imperfect way some articles of the Catechism, and they rendered them for me into all the niceties of their language. I immediately committed them to paper, and by this means in a very short time I made for myself a diction- ary, and a catechism which contained the principles and myste- ries of our religion. It cannot be denied that the language of the Indians has its real beauties, and a certain indescribable energy in the turn and manner of expression. I will give you an example of this. If I should ask you, Why God has created you ? You would answer me, That I might know him, love him, and serve him, and by this means procure eternal glory. But should I put the same question to an Indian, he would answer in this way, according to their manner of expression : Thus thought the Great Spirit con- cerning us ; Let them know me, let them honor me, let them love me, and obey me ; that then I may cause them to enter into my wonderful felicity. If I wish to say in their style, that you will find difficulty in learning the Indian language, see how it will be THE WANDEIUNGS OF FATHER RASLES. 29 necessary for mo to express myself: I think of my dour brother, that ho will fiud difficulty in learning the Indian language. The Huron is the chief language of these Indians, and when one has acijuired it, in less than three months he will be able to understand that of the five Irocjuois nations. It is the most dig- nified, and, at the same time, the most difficult of all the Indian languages. This difficulty arises not only from their guttural letters, but much more from the difi"erence of accent ; for often two words composed of the same letters have entirely diflbrent significations. Father Chaumont, who has lived fifty ycara aiiiung the Ilurons, has composed a grammar which is very use- ful to those who have newly arrived in this mission. Neverthe- less, a missionary is fortunate, if even with this aid, he is able, after ten years of constant toil, to express himself elegantly in their language. « Each Indian nation has its own particular language. Thus, the Abnakis, the Hurons, the Iroquois, the Algonkins, the Illi- nois, the Miamis, &c., have each their language. There arc no books at all with which to learn these languages, and if there were, they would be almost useless ; practice is the only master wliich can instruct us. As I have labored in four diiferent mis- sions of the Indians ; that is to say, among the Abnakis, the Al- gonkins, the Hurons, and the Illinois, and have been obliged to acquire their different languages, I will give you a specimen, that you may know how little resemblance there is between them. I have chosen the strophe of a hymn of the Holy Sacrament, which they ordinarily chant during the mass, at tlic elevation of the Host, and whicli begins with these words : " salutaris Hostia." Here follows the translation in verse of this strophe in the four languages of these different nations. Ill the Abnakis Language. Kighist ai-nuanursinnB Spem kik papili go ii damek i;i4 ,'<*'j \\n ■-.■if rM I • :r-'i M • .,»■... '1 30 JESUITS l^ AMERICA. Is' V '■ I it till 'I , m I: ..■■* NcDK'tiui fi k»i(liui gUubouk Taha sail grihino. In the Algonkin Language. Kveraia'JcBus togvscnom Nera vcul ka utitiiau Ku rio vlligUu uiiang Vus mama vik uiuong. In the Huron Language, Jesfs fcto ctti x'ichio 8to ctti skuaaliclii-axo J chierche axcra-t/cnsta D'aotierti xcata-ficn. In the Illinois Language. Pekiziano manct to # Piaro nile hi uaiiglii Keninaiua »\ u kangha Mero binang ysiang Li. The meaning of these lines is this : " saving Sacrifice, who art continually offered, and who givest life, thou by whom we enter Heaven, we are constantly assailed, O ^strengthen us !" After having lived nearly two years among the Abnakis, I was recalled by my superiors. They destined me to the mission among the Illinois, who had lost their missionary. I repaired, therefore, to Quebec, where, after having spent three months in studying the Algonkin language, I embarked on the loth of Au- gust in a canoe, to go to the Illinois, whose country is more than eight hundred leagues distance from Quebec. You can easily imagine, that so long a voyage in these barbarous regions, was not performed without running great risks and suffering many inconveniences. I had to traverse lakes of a vast extent, and where storms are as frequent as on the ocean. It is true that THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 31 5cG, who lom "we !" , I was mission cpaired, on til s in of Au- ore than m easily ions, was iig many ent, and irue that wo had the advu.itngo of landing every evening, but ho was fortu- nate w!io coulil linJ some ilut rock on which to pass the night. When it rained, our only way of lirotection against it was, by placing ourselves under the eauoo turued bottom upwards. The greatest dangers, however, are to bo encountered on thQ rivers, particularly in places where they run with great rapidity. There the canoe flies like an arrow, and if it comes in contact with any of the rocks which are found there in great numbers, it is at once dashed into a thousand pieces. This misfortune hap- pened to some of those who accompanied us in other canoes, and it was by a singular protection of Divine Goodness, that I escaped the same fate, for my canoe many times touched the rocks, but without' receiving the least injury. We risk too the endurance of all that is most distressing in hunger, for the length and difficulty of this kind of voyage docs not permit us to carry anything but i sack of Indian corn. One would naturally suppose, that the chase might furnish us on the route with sometliing we could live on, but if the game fails we find ourselves exposed to many days of fasting. Then, the only resource is to search for a kind of leaves which the Indians call Kci/g/u'ssanachj and the French Tripe de ruche. One would take them for chervil* which they much resemble in shape, if they were not too large. They are prepared either by boiling or roast- ing, and those of which I have eaten are by no means unpala- table. I was not obliged to suffer much from hunger until I reached the Lake of the Hurons ; but this was by no means the case with the companions' of my voyage, for the storms having scattered [* The tr'i])e de roche, or rock-tripe, is one of the Lichens known in bo- tanyas the Umbilicaria Muhlenbergii, and is much used for food by the North- ern Indians. The chervil is the Scandix cerefoVmm of botanists, possessing a slightly aromatic taste, and much used in the South of Europe in soups and salads. Francis' Life of Rale, p. 175 ] < ■ 1 HI • 1 u: ^ 1 ' 4 ¥ A m yr % % :-i J m- M * I :. . . . ■ t, ' ' ' 'i .■ ;; Is !■ i ■■ 'v ■' |!- Hi mi' h ( ■ t 1 / ) f ■ ! '<'''[ , 1 ; 1 ■1 ■ ,1 '!!. 1'^' ' ii ; ii 1 ; 1 I I 32 JESUITS IN AMERICA. their canoes, they were not able to join me. I arrived therefore first at 3fissilimakinak, from whence I sent them some provisions, without which they would have starved to death. They had passed seven days without any other nourishment than what they could get from a crow which they had killed more by accident than skill, for they had not strength to hold themselves up. The season was too far advanced to continue my route to the Illinois, from whence I was distant as yet about four hundred leagues. It was therefore necessary for me to remain at 3Iissili- makiiiak, where there were two of our missionaries, one of whom was stationed among the Hurons, and the other among the Outa- ouacks. These last are very superstitious, and very much attach- ed to the juggleries- if their medi'^ine-men. They claim an origin equally senseless and ridiculous, pretending that they are derived from three families, and that each family was composed of five hundred persons. Some are from the family of Michabou, that is to say, of the Great Hare. They pretend that the Great Hare was a man of prodigious size ; that he could spread nets in the water at eigh- teen fathoms deep, while the water scarcely came to his arm-pits ; that one day during the deluge, he sent out the beaver to discov- er land, but this animal not having returned, he caused the otter to go out, who brought back a little earth covered with foam ; that he repaired to the part of the lake where he found this land, which formed a little island ; he walked in the water all around it, and this island became extraordinarily large. It is for this reason that they attribute to him the creation of land. They add. that after having accomplished this work, he flew up to Heaven, which is his ordinary residence, but after having left the earth, he ordered that when his descendants die, they shall burn their bodies, and then fling their ashes into the air, to the end that they may be able to raise themselves more easily towards Hea- ven ; that if they should fail to do so, the snow would not cease THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 33 3refore ^sions, jy had at they ccident ) to the undred Missili- f whom .e Outa- attach- n origin derived I of five ^, of the man of at eigh- rm-pits ; D discov- le otter h foam ; lis land, 1 around for this hey add. Heaven, 10 earth, irn their end that rds Ilea- not cease ■f to cover the earth, their lakes and rivers would remain frozen, and not being able to catch fish, which is their ordinary food, they would all die in the spring. It happened indeed a few years since, that the winter having continued much longer than usual, there was one general conster- nation among the Indians of the family of the Great Hare. They Lad recourse to their accustomed juggleries, and assembled many times to consult on the means of dissipating this hostile snow, which seemed obstinately determined to remain on the earth, when an old woman approached them. " My children," said she, " you have no wisdom. You know the orders which were left by the Great Hare, that we should burn dead bodies, and cast their ashes to the wind, that they might return more easily to Heaven their country ; but you have neglected these orders, in leaving at some days journey from hence, a dead man without burning him, as if he did not belong to the family of the Great Hare. Repair your fault forthwith, and take measures to burn him, if you wish the snow to melt." " You are right, our mother," they answered ; " you have more wisdom than we, and the counsel which you give restores us to life." They immediately deputed twenty-five men to go and burn that body. About a fortnight was spent in the journey, during which time the thaw came, and the snow melted. The old woman who had given this advice was overwhelmed with praises and presents, and this occurrence, which was so entirely natural, had a great influence in strengthening them in their fol- ly and superstitious credulity. The second family of the Outaouaks cljiims to be derived from Namepich, that is to say, the Carp. Their tradition is, that a carp having deposited its eggs on the borders of a river, and the sun having darted its rays upon them, they were formed into a woman, from whom they are descended : in this way they say they are of the family of the Carp. The third family of the Outaouaks attributes its origin to the 3* i^i: .■•«'41 s ■ .m '■■■'■m mm '■ « ; ■ tw ■ i :■ ^^.^ mi •I. ' 34 JESUITS IN AMERICA. t . w ■ ■ ■ : ''■V,, . •'( llil, I! i t' I, r ' , ! 1:, -" 1^ %\e^^ -il' |.::.-:i- - '-I I, ' f ! : ri 1 1 ' i 1 n(! paw of a Machova, that is to say, of a Bear, and they claim that they are of the family «f the Bear, but without explaining in what manner they are derived. When they kill any of these animals, they make a feast for him with his own flesh — they speak to him and harangue him. " Do not have any ill will against us," they say to him, " because we have killed you. You have sense — you see that our children are suffering with hunger — they love you — they wish to make you enter into their bodies. And is it not a glorious thing for you to be eaten by the children of the Chief?" The family of the Great Hare is the only one which burns the bodies of the dead ; the othor two families inter them. "When any chief dies, they prepare a vast cofl&n, in which after having placed the body clothed in its most beautiful garments, they shut up with it his blanket, his gun, his supply of powder and lead, his bow and arrows, his kettle, his platter with some provisions, his tomahawk and pipe, his 1k)x of vermillion, his mirror, his col- lars of porcelain, and all the presents which were made him at his death according to their usual custom. They imagine that with this outfit he will make his journey to the other world more happily, and will meet with a more favorable reception from the great chiefs of the nation, who will conduct him to a place of enjoyment. While all things are preparing in the coffin, the relatives of the deceased assist at the ceremony, mourning after their fashion, that is, chanting in a sorrowful tone, and beating time with a stick to which they have attached many little rattles. The particular in which the superstition of these people ap- pears the most extravagant, is in the worship which they bestow upon what they call their Manitou. As they are scarcely ac- quainted with anything but the animals in whose company they live in the forests, they imagine that in these animals, or rather in their skins, or in the plumage of the birds, resides a kind of ■ • 11: 'IT' THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 35 a that ing in : these r speak igainst a have — they And iren of rns the When having ley shut lid lead, )visions, , his col- [m at his lat with Id more rom the place of tives of er their ing time es. iople ap- jjT bestow rcely ac- iny they )r rather kind of s Spirit which governs all things, and which is master of lii'e and death. There are, according to them, Manitouf common to the whole nation, and also particular ones for each individual. Ous- saJciia, they say, is the grand Manitou of all the animals which exist on the earth, and of the birds which fly in the air. It is he who governs them. When therefore they wish to go to the chase, they offer him tobacco, powder, lead, and skins well dressed, which they attach to the end of a pole and elevate in the air. " Oiissakita" say they, " we give you something to smoke, and we offer you something wherewith to kill the game. Conde- scend to accept our presents, and do not permit them to escape our arrows. Permit us to kill them in great numbers, and very fat, so that our children may want neither clothing or nourishment." They call Michibichi the Manitou of waters and fish, and offer him a sacrifice nearly similar when they wish to engage in fish- ing, or to undertake a voyage. It consists in casting into the water tobacco, provisions, kettles, and praying to him that the waters of the river may flow smoothly, that the rocks may not break their canoes, and that he will grant them an abundant sup- ply of fish. Besides these common Manitous, each one has his own particu- lar one. which is a bear, or a beaver, or a bustard, or any animal of the kind. They carry the skin of this animal to war, or to the chase, and in their voyages, persuading themselves that it will preserve them from all danger, and ensure them success in their enterprises. When an Indian wishes to select a Manitou, for himself, the first animal which presents itself to his imagination during sleep, is usually that on which his choice falls. He therefore kills an animal of that kind, and places its skin, or its plumage if it ; be a bird, in an honorable place in his cabin. He then pre- pares a feast in its honor, during which he makes it a speech ■■'m "M .■■.».■: >/*,*- 4^ mm 'yM ■■^^^ ■T i 36 JESUITS IN AMERICA. iti.: <■ i 1 i. P^. ^ .'in. 'Hi illlil !■ -l : \ h ' vilj 11.: ; iip^^ 't: 1 ' •■ '. i ■ ■, ;W I;' i : :•' 1' ■• !;i i r-M in the most respectful terms, after which it is recognized as his Manitou. As soon as the Spring came, I departed from Missilimak'mah to go to the residence of the Illinois. I found in my route mauj Indian nations, among whom were the Maskoutings, the Jakk the Omekoucs, the Iripegouans, the Outagamis, &c. Each of these nations has its own peculiar language, but in other re spects they do not differ at all from the Outaouacks. A mission' ary who resides at the bay of the Puants, makes from time to time excursions among these Indians, to instruct them in the truths of religion. After forty days' journey, I entered the river of the Illinois, and having followed its course for fifty leagues, I arrived at their first village, which contained three hundred cabins, all of four or five fires. One fire is always for two families. They have eleven villages in their nation. On the day after my arrival I was in vited by the principal chief to a great feast, which he gave to tlie most considerable persons in the nation. To prepare for it lie had caused them to kill a large number of dogs ; an entertain' ment of this kind passes among the Indians for a most magnifi' cent festival, and is therefore called the Feast of the Chief; The ceremonies observed are the same among all these natiou! It is generally in feasts of this kind that the Indians delil) crate on all their most important affairs, as for example, when the question in agitation is, whether they shall undertake a war against their neighbors, or whether they shall terminate i; by propositions of peace. When all the guests have arrived, they range themselvei around the cabin, sitting either on the bare ground or on tlit mats, then the chief rises and begins his harangue. I coufesi to you that I have admired his flow of words, the justice and forct of the reasons which he advanced, the eloquent turn which lit gave them, the choice and delicacy of the expressions with whiel i with THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 37 i as his kinak to te many he Jcikk Each of other re' . mission- L time to m in the e Illinois, d at their of four 01 ive eleven I was in- ■ave to tk for it lie enter tain- t magnifi- he Chief; nations ^ans delilj- iiple, wlieij lertakc a rminate i; lU fchemselvei or on tlic I COufoJi e and foict which lit with whict he adorned his discourse. I believe that if I could commit to writiuw what this Indian said to us extemporaneously and with- out preparation, you would be convinced without difficulty, that the most able Europefins, after much meditation and study, could scarcely compose a liscourse more solid and better turned. The harangue finished, two Indians, who filled the office of carvers, distributed the plates to all the assembly, and each plate was appropriated to two guests. They eat, conversing together on iudiffi)rent subjects, and when the repast was finished they re- tired, carrying with them, according to their custom, what re- mained on their plates. The Illinois never give those feasts which are customary among many other savage nations, where one is obliged to eat all that is served to him, even if he should die. When therefore any one finds hi'nsclf unable to fulfil this ridiculous rule, he addresses some other guest whom he knows to have a better appetite : " My brother," he says to him, " have pity on me, I shall die if you do not save my life. Eat what remains to me, and I will make you a present of something." This is the only way of getting out of the dilemma.* The Illinois only cover themselves about the waist, and leave the rest of the body entirely naked. Different compartments filled with all kinds of figures which they engrave on their bodies in a way which is inefiaceable, supply to them the place of garments. It is only in the visits which they make, or when they assist at church, that they wrap themselves in a covering, which during the summer is composed of a skin dressed, and during the winter of a skin with the hair on, the better to retain the heat. They ornament their heads with feathers of difi'erent colors, of which ''■: they make garlands and crowns, which they arrange with great [* This custom is in force to this day among some of our Western Indians. ■ See an amusing account of such a feast among the Pawnees, related by the I Hon. C. A. Murray, in his " Travels in North America," v. i. pp. 238-— 242 J n%. '^M ■Ml '■■m ~^l M ."■•■' 'I 1 i ' i: 38 JESUITS IN AMERICA. taste. They take care always to paint their faces with various colors, but particularly with vermilion. They also use collars and pendants for the ears of small stones which they cut into the shape of precious stones ; some of them are blue, others red, and others white as alabaster. To these it is always necessary to add a small piece of porcelain, which hangs at the end of the collar. The Illinois persuade themselves that these fantastic ornaments confer on them a degree of grace and attract re- spect. When the Illinois are not engaged in war or the chase, their time is passed in sports, or feasting, or dancing. They have two kinds of dances : the one kind is used as a token of rejoicing, and they invite to it the women and young girls who are most distinguished. The otlier kind is to mark their grief at the death of the most considerable persons in their nation. It is by these dances that they pretend to honor the deceased, and to dry the tears of his relatives. All persons indeed have a right to this kind of mourning at the death of their relations, provided they make presents for this purpose. The dances last a greater or less time in proportion to the price and value of the presents, which are immediately afterwards distributed to the dancers. Their custom is not to bury the dead, but they wrap them in skins and attach them by the head and feet to the tops of trees. AVhen not engaged in games or feasts or dances, the men re- main quiet on their mats, and pass their time eithptr in sleeping, or in making bows, arrows, calumets, and other things of the same kind. As to the women, they toil like slaves from morn- ing till night. It is their duty during the summer to cultivate the earth and plant the Indian corn ; and from the commence- ment of winter they are occupied in manufacturing mats, dress- ing skins, and many other works of the kind, for their first care is to provide every thing that is necessary for their cabin. Of all the nations of Canada, there are none who live in so ill tht dischi iu loa Th for fis lands fcrent cm bail m m '1! THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 39 irious jollars t into •s red, sessary of the ntastic act re- e, their ive two ijoicing, re most le death ay these dry the , to this ed they eater or )resents, ancers. them in of trees. men re- sleeping, 9 of the m morn- cultivate »mmence- ,ts, dress- first care n. ive in so great abundance of everything as the Illinois. Their rivers are covered with swans, bustards, ducks, and teals, One can scarcely travel a league without finding a prodigious multitude of turkeys, who keep together in flocks, often to the number of two hundred. They are much larger than those we seen in France. I had the curiosity to weigh one, which I found to be thirty-six pounds. They have hanging from the neck a kind of tuft of hair, half a foot in length. Bears and stags are found there in very great numbers, and buffaloes and roebucks are also scon in vast herds. Not a year passes but they kill more than a thousand roebucks and more than two thousand buffaloes. From four to five thousand of the latter can often be seen at one view, grazing on the prairies. They have a hump on the back and an exceedingly large head. The hair, except that on the head, is curled, and soft as wool. The flesh has naturally a salt taste, and is so light, that although eaten entirely raw, it does not cause the least indigestion. "When they have killed a buffalo which appears to them too lean, they content themselves with taking the tongue, and going in search of one which is fatter. Arrows are the principal arms which they use in war and in the chase. They are pointed at the end with a stone cut and sharpened in the shape of a serpent's tongue ; and if no knife is at hand, they use them also to skin the animals they have killed. They are so skillful in using the bow, that they scarcely ever fail in their aim, and they do it with so much quickness that they can discharge a hundred arrows in the time another person would use in loading his gun. They will not take the trouble to labor with the proper nets for fishing in the rivers, because the abundance of animals of all kinds which are found for their subsistence, renders them indif- fLvcut to fish. But when they take a fancy to have some, they eiuburk in a canoe with their bows and arrows ; standing upright, ( , > '», V '. 1 40 JESUITS IN AMERICA. .: V. I' ii| t: for the purpose of more easily seeing the fish, as soon as tliey perceive it, they pierce it with an arrow. The only method among the Illinois of acquiring public esteem and veneration, is, as is the case with all other savages, to gain the reputation of an able hunter, or much more of a good warrior. It is in this particular that they principally consider merit to consist, and one who possesses it they look upon as being truly a man. They are bo passionately attached to this kind of glory, that they do not hesitate to undertake journeys of four hundred leagues through the depth of the forest, either to capture a slave or to take the scalp of an enemy they have killed. They count as nothing the fatigues and long fasts they have to endure, particu- larly when they appro.'- jh the territory of their enemies ; for then they do not dare to hunt, lest the animals, being only wounded, should escape with the arrow in their bodies, and thus warn the enemy to place himself in a state of defence. Their manner of making war, the same as among all savage nations, is to surprise their foes, and they therefore are accustomed to send on scouts, to observe their number and the direction of their march, or to examine if they are on their guard. According to the report which these bring back, they either place an ambush or make an irruption into their cabins, tomahawk in hand, and do not fail to kill some of them before they have it in their power to think of defence. The tomahawk is made of the horn of a stag, or of wood in the shape of a cutlass, and terminated by a large ball. They hold the tomahawk in one hand and a knife in the other. As soon as they have dealt a blow on the head of an enemy, they immediately cut it round with the knife, and take off the scalp with extraordi- nary rapidity. When a warrior returns to his own country loaded with many scalps, he is received with great honors ; but he covers himself with glory when he has made prisoners and brought them with ■I afii'ceal THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 41 in the ley liold soon as jdiately Itraordi- th many lliimself jm witb him alive. As soon as he arrives, all the people of the village assomltlc und range themselves in Hue on the road which the prisoners have to pass. This reception is most cruel ; some tear out the nails, others cut oflF the fingers or the ears, while others again deal blows with their clubs. After this first reception, the old men assemble to deliberate whether tliey shall grant the prisoners their lives, or put them to death. AVhen any dead person is to be revived, that is to say, if any one of their warriors has been killed, whom they conclude ouglit to be replaced in his cabin, they give to this cabin one of their prisoners, who is to take the place of the deceased ; and this is what they call reviving the dead. Wiicn the prisoner is condemned to death, they immediately plant a large post in the earthy to which they attach him by both hands. They make him sing his death-song, and all the savages having seated themselves about the stake, they kindle at some feet from it a large fire, in which they heat hatchets, and gun- barrels, and other instruments of iron. Then they come forward, one after tlie other, and apply these things red hot to the different parts of his body, feome scorch him with burning fire-brands ; others gash his body with their knives ; and others cut off" a piece of his flesh which has been already roasted, and eat it in his presence. You will see one fill his wounds with powder, and rub it over his whole body, and afterwards apply the fire to it. In fine, each one torments him according to his caprice, and this during four or five hours, and sometimes even for two or three clays. The more shrill and piercing the cries which the violence of the torments' wrings from him, so much more diverting and agreeable to these barbarians does the spectacle become. It was the Iroquois who invented this frightful kind of death, and it is : only by way of retaliation that the Illinois, in their turn, treat their Iroquois prisoners with the same cruelty. I What we understand by the word Ckristianity^ is known among « ^'m. ■ 1 1 -Hi' t'i 42 JESUITS IN AMERICA. II) 'I ■•Hi!" ':' ■■ '■■ ::li| 111 I f"( Hi 11 ■ ■ ■ all the savages by the name of Fmi/er. When, therefore, I shall tell you in the remainder of this letter that such an Indian tribe has embraced Prayer, it is the same as saying that it has become Christian, or that it is disposed to be so. There would have bccu less difficulty in converting the Illinois, if the Prayer had per- mitted polygamy among them. The}/ acknowledged that the Prayer was good, and were delighted tliat we should teach it to their women and children ; but when wc spoke on the subject to themselves, we found how difficult it was to fix their natural inconstancy, and induce them to resolve that they would have but one wife, and retain her always. When the hour arrives for morning and evening prayers, all repair to the Chapel. There are none among them, even in- cluding their great medicine-men, that is to say, the worst ene- mies of our religion, but send their children to be instructed and baptized. In this consists the best fruits which our mission at first receives among the Indians, and which is the most certain ; for among the great number of infants whom we baptize, not a year passes but many die before they are able to use their rcasoD. But, even among the adults, the greater part arc so fervent, and so attached to the Prayer, that they will suffer the most cruel death sooner than abandon it. It is a blessing to the Illinois that they are so far distant from Quebec, because it renders it impossible to transport to them the " fire-water," as it is carried to others. This drink is among the Indians the greatest obstacle to Christianity, and the source of an infinite number of their most shocking crimes. Wc know that they never purchase it but to plunge into the nio.st furious intoxication, and the riots and sad deaths of which v;c were each day the witnesses, ought to outweigh the gain which can be made by the trade in a liquor so fatal. It was for two years that I remained among the Illinois, at tlie end of which time I was recalled to devote the rest of my days !«H' 1; .,i. ■■•li'f ■ THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 43 [ shall 1 tribe )ccome c been id per- at the h it to (ject to natural avc but ^ers, all iven in- rst ene- ited and ission at certain ; zc, not a : reason, ent, and )st cruel ' distant sport to drink is and the es. "NVc the most hicli T\-e whicli w iin )is, at the my days to the service of the Abnakis. It was the first mission to which I had been destined on my arrival in Canada, and it is that in which, apparently, I shall finish my life. It was necessary, therefore, for me to return to Quebec, for the purpose of going thither to rejoin my dear Indians. I have already described to you the length and difficulties of this journey, and shall thereforo only mention a most consoling adventure which happened to mo when about .forty leagues distance from Quebec. I found myself in u kind of village, where there were twenty- five French houses, and a Cure who had charge of the inhab- itants. Near the village, might bo seen an Indian cabin, in which lived a young female of about sixteen years of ago, but who had for many years been afflicted with a malady which had at length reduced her to the last extremity. M. the Cure, who did not understand the language of these Indians, requested mo to confess the sick person, and conducted me himself to the cabin. In the conversation which I had with this young girl on the truths of religion, I learned that she had been well instructed by one of our missionaries, but had never as yet received Bap- tism. After having passed two days in putting to her all the questions proper to assure myself on these points — " Do not refuse me," said she, " I conjure you, the grace of Baptism whicli I demand. You see how much oppression I have upon my breast, and that but little time remains for me to live. What a misfortune would it be to me, and how would you reproach yourself, if I should happen to die without receiving this grace !" I answered, that she should prepare to receive it on the next day, and left her. The joy which my reply gavQ»her, cau.sed so immediate a change, that she was in a state to repair early in the morning to the chapel. I was beyond measure surprised at her arrival, and immediately and most solemnly administered to her the rite of baptism. As soon as it was over she returned to her cabin, where she did not cease to thank the divine mercy for pf-m l:<' I '■V,. I : I 11 ■ ! ' 1 i T 1 i[ *H iti 44 JESUITS IN AMERICA. so great a blcsHhig, and to sigh for tbo happy moment which should unite her to God for all eternity. Her prayers were favorably heard, and I was privileged to assist at her death. What a providential dispensation for this poor girl, and what a consolation for me to have been the instrument which God was willing to use in placing her in heaven ! You will not require from me, my dear brother, that I should enter into detail with regard to all that has happened to me during the many years that I have been in this mission. My occupations are always the same ; and I should expose myself to wearisome repetitions. I will therefore only relate to you certain facts which seem to me most worthy of your attention. I feel authorized to assert, in general, that you would find it difficult to restrain your tears if you should find yourself in my church when our Indians are assembled there, and be a witnc,<> of the piety with which they recite their prayers, chant diviue offices, and participate in the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. When they have been enlightened by the faith, an] sincerely embraced it, they are no longer the same persons, and the greater part preserve undimmed tho purity they have re ccived at baptism. It is this which fills me with the deepest joy, when I hear their confessions, which are frequent ; no matter what questions I put to them, I often can with difficulty find materials to render absolution neccosary. My duties among them are unceasing. As they look for as- sistance no where except from their missionary, and hu/e entire confidence in him, it is not sufficient for me to confine myself to the spiritual functions of my ministry, for the sanctification of their souls. It is necessary, also, that I should interest myself in their temporal affairs, that I should be always ready to console them when they come to me for advice, that I should decide their little diffijrences, that I should take care of them when they are ill, chat I should bleed them, that I should administer t'l'inity C!hrist I THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 4& b which rs were • death, I what a GJod was I should (1 to mc on. My nysclf to to you ittcntion, d tind it elf iu my a witness Lilt divine 3 and the faith, and rsons, ami have rO' Hc deepest ucnt ; no difficulty 3ok for as- ,'G entire myself to fication of est myself to console uld decide hem when administei ill niedicines to them, &o. My days arc often so entirely occupied, that I am obliged to shut myself up to find timo to attend to my prayers, and the recital of my Office. The zeal with which God has filled mc for the welfare of my Indians, was very much alarmed in the year 1G07, when I learned that a tribe of the AmaUngaa Indians was coming to establish themselves within one day's journey of my village. I had reason to fear lest the arts of their medicino-men, that is, the sacrifices which they offer to the Evil Spirit, and the disorders which ordi- narily attend them, might produce an impression on some of my young neophytes ; but thanks to the Divine Mercy, my fears were presently dissipated in a way which I am going to relate to you. One of our chiefs, celebrated in this country for his valor, having been killed by the English, who are not far distant from us, the Amalingans deputed several of their nation to proceed to our village, for the purpose of drying the tears of the relatives of the illustrious deceased ; that is to say, as I have already explain- ed to you, to visit them, to make them presents, and to testify by their dances the sympathy they felt in their affliction. They ar- rived in our village on Corpus Christi day.* I was then occu- pied in receiving the confessions of my Indians, which lasted the whole of that day, the night following, and the next day even till noon, when commenced the Procession of the Consecrated Host. This was conducted with much order and devotion, and although in the middle of these forests, with more of pomp and magnificence than you can well imagine. This spectacle, which was entirely jacw to the Amalingans^ attracted their attention and excited their fcdmiration. It seemed to me that I ought to avail myself of the 'jfavorable disposition which they showed, and therefore after hav- [*An annual festival in the Church o" Rome, on the Thursday after iTrinity Sunday. Its design is to commemorate the corporal presence of (phrist in the Holy Eucharist.] K '^i .1 . , 1 4 ¥ m ■ •'■■''I ,■1 '■; -!i. '^'11 46 JESUITS IN AMERICA. ': >1 ■i (:: ing assembled them, I made the following address in the Indian style. " For a long time, my children, I have wished to see you : and now that I have this happiness, it wants but little that my heart should burst. Think of the joy which a father will experience who tenderly loves his children, when they return to him after a long absence, during which they have been exposed to the great- est dangers, and you can conceive a portion of what I feel. For although you do not as yet pray, I shall not cease to regard you as my children, and to have for you the tenderness of a father, beeaase you are the children of the Great Spirit, who has given life to you as well as to those who pray, who has made the Hea- ven for you as well as for them, who cares for you as he does for them and for me, that all may together enjoy eternal happiness. What however gives me pain, and diminishes the joy I feel at seeing you, is the reflection which is forced upon me, that one day I must be separated from a part of my children, whose lot will be eternally miserable, because they will not pray, while the others who do pray will be in joy which shall never end. When I think of this sad separation, how can I have a contented heart? The joy which I receive from the happiness of some, does not equal my affliction on account of the misery which awaits others. If you had invincible obstacles to the Prayer, and if while you remain in the state in which you now are, I could enable you to enter Heaven, I would spare nothing to procure you this happi- ness. I would thrust you forward, I would force you to enter there, so much do I love you, and so mu !h do I desire your wel- fare ; but this is a thing which is impossible. It is necessary to pray, it is necessary to be baptized, to enable you to enter that place of enjoyments." After this preamble, I explained to them at length the princi- pal articles of our faith, and I continued thus : — " All these sayings which I have endeavored to explain to you, ii#jil THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 47 [udian I : and ' heart erience after a ; great- I. For ird you i father, IS given he Hea- does for ,ppiness, ! feel at that one rhose lot yhile the When d heart? oes not ! others, hile you e you to is happi- to enter our wel- lessary to inter that le princi- in to you, arc not by any means human words ; they are the words of the Great Spirit : neither are they at all written, as arc the words of a man, on a collar, which they cause to express what they wish ; but they arc written in the Book of the Great Spirit, where a falsehood could not gain entrance." To enable you to understand this Indian expression, I must remark, my dear brother, that the custom of these people, when they write to any nation is to send a collar, or a wide belt, on which they have made different figures with grains of porcelain of ' different colors. They give instructions to him who carries the col- lar, telling him, " This is what we mean the collar to say to such a nation, or to such a person," and so they send him forth. Our In- dians ',70uld have difficulty in comprehending what was said, and would give it but little attention, if the speaker did not conform to their manner of thought and expression. I proceeded thus : — " Courage, my children, listen to the voice of the Great Spirit, which speaks to you by my mouth. He loves you, and his love for you is so great that he has given his life to procure for you life eternal. Alas, perhaps he has only permitted the death of one of our chiefs, as a means of drawing yon to the place of the Prayer, and causing you to hear his voice. Reflect then that you jure not immortal. A day will come when others in this way will endeavor to dry the tears which are shed for your death, and what will it avail you to have been in this life numbered with great Chiefs, if after death you are cast into eternal flames 1 He Ifhom you come to mourn with us, had the happiness a thousand iimes to have listened to the voice of the Great Spirit, and to j^ave been faithful to the Prayer. Pray as he did, and you shall live eternally. Courage, my children, we will not separate at |11, that some should go to one place and the rest to another ; let us all go to Heaven, it is our country, it is thither you are fxhorted to attain by the only Master of life, whose interpreter I am. Think of it seriously." li {'•I'Ml !., ' '♦'^•f 1 ^ '■ ■■■•.■^l " ' '/'J^" : ■« : ■ «* w f.:: ■ li ■ •ill; Pi It ii :■ f' 48 JESUITS IN AMERICA. As soon as I had ceased speaking, they consulted together for some time, until at length their orator made me this answer on their part. " My father, I am delighted to hear you. Your voice has penetrated even to my heart, but my heart is as yet shut, nor am I able now to open it, to let you know what ij there, or to which side it will turn. It is necessary that I should wait for many chiefs and other considerable tribes of our natioa who will arrive during the next autumn. It is then that I will disclose my heart to you. Behold, my dear father, all that I am able to say to you at this time." " My heart is content," I replied to them ; " I am perfectlj satisfied since my words have afforded you pleasure, and you asi time to think of them. You will only be firmer in your attacli- ment to the Prayer when once you have embraced it. Neverthe- less, I shall not cease to address myself to the Great Spirit, and to beg him to regard you with the eyes of mercy, and to strengthen your thoughts to the end that they may decide in favor of the Prayer." After this I left the assembly, and they returned to their own village. When the autumn came, I learned that one of our Indian; was about to go to the Amalingans, to obtain corn for planting the fields. I sent for him, and charged him to tell them on nij part, that I was impatient again to see my children, that I to always present with them in spirit, and I prayed them to remeni' ber the promise they had given me. The Indian faithfully fiil filled his commission, and this was the answer which the Amalk-i gam made. " We are very much obliged to our father for thinking of ui^ without ceasing. For our part, we have meditated much on wha:! he has said to us. We cannot forget those words while we have | a heart, for they have been so deeply engraven there that nothin|| can efiace them. We are persuaded that he loves us, we wish tiJ listen to him, and to obey him in that point which he so muct;| i tlit '! : ": ■ . THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 49 lier for iwer on Your ; as yd what is [ should r nation at I will .1 that I perfectlj [ you ast r attacli- ^evertlie- pirit, and irengtliet or of the turned ty Indian; planting 3m on m lat I ^vai ;o remeni' lifully fill' le Amalik dng of Hi h on wlia: c we liavt at notliin? Iwe wisli t( 3 so mud desires us. We accept the prayer which he purposes to us, for we see nothing in it but what is good and praiseworthy. We are entirely resolved to embrace it, and should at once go to find our father in his village, if he had there sufficient food for our sustenance during the time which he should devote to our in- struction. But how can we find it there ? We know that hunger i< in the cabin of our father, and it is this which doubly afflicts us, that our fath' suffers hunger, and that we cannot go to see him that he may instruct us. If our father could come and pass some time here with us, he would live and might instruct us. This is what you must say to our father." This answer of the Amalingans was returned to me at a most favorable time. The greater part of my Indians were going to be away for some days to procure food to last them until the har- vest of Indian corn. Their absence, therefore, gave me leisure to visit the Amalingans, and on the next day I embarked in a canoe to repair to their village. I was about a league distant, when they perceived me, and immediately saluted me with a con- tinual discharge of their guns, which lasted until I landed from the canoe. This honor which they had paid me, assured me of their present dispositions. I did not lose the least time, but as soon as I had arrived, I caused them to plant the Cross, and those who accompanied me raised as soon as possible a Chapel, which tliey made of bark, in the same way in which they form their cabins, and within it they erected an altar. While they were occupied in this work, I visited all the cabins of the Ania- lingans, to prepare them for the instructions I was about to give. As soon as I commenced, they gave the most assiduous attention. I assembled them three times during the day in the Chapel, namely, in the morning after mass, at noon, and in the evening after prayer. During the rest of the day I went round the cab- ins, where I again gave them more particular instructions. When after some days of continual toil, I judged that they '■mv U 4»; IM. . .1. ■ 1 !-■' 1 1 'll'- !ii il !) ,:| : .;j 4 ! . .11,; 50 JESUITS IN AMERICA. were sufficiently instructed, I fixed tlie day on wliich they should come to receive regeneration in the waters of Holy Baptism, The first who came to the Chapel were- the chief, the or? tor. three of the most considerable men of the nation, with two fe- males. Immediately after their baptism, two other bands, eacli of twenty Indians, succeeded them, who received the same grace. In fine, all the rest continued to arrive there on that day and during the next. You can well believe, my dear brother, that severe as may be these labors for a missionary, he is at the same time well recom- pensed for all his fatigues, by the delightful consolation tliat he has been the means of bringing an entire nation into the path of safety. I had prepared to leave them and return to my own vil- lage, when a deputation came to me on their part, with the mes- sage, that they had all assembled in one place, and prayed me to repair to their meeting. As soon as I appeared in their midst, the orator addressed these words to me in the name of all the rest : " Our father," said he, " we can find no words in which to testify the inexpressible joy we have felt at having received bap- tism. It seems to us now that we have a diflFerent heart. Every- thing which caused us any difficulty is entirely dissipated, our thoughts are no longer wavering, the baptism has strengthened us within, and we are firmly resolved to respect it all the days of our life. Behold what we wish to say to you before you leave us." I replied to them in a short discourse, in which I exhorted them to persevere in the grace they had received, and to do no- thing unworthy of the rank of children of God, with which they had been honored when they received Holy Baptism. As they were preparing to depart to the sea-shore, I added, that on theu' return we would determine which was best, whether we should go and live with them, or they should come to form with us one single village. The village in which I live is called Nanrantsouack, and is sit- THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 51 uated ill a country between Acadia and New England. Tliis mission is about twenty-four leagues distance from I'eulaguuct, and they reckon it to be a hundred leagues from reutagouet to Port lloyal. The river which flows through my mission ia the largest of all those which water the territories of the Indians. It should bo marked on the maps by the name of Ki/ube/cl, and it is this which has induced the French to give these Indians the name of Kanibals. This river empties into the sea at Sciiikde- raak, which is only five or six leagues from Peinquit. After hav- ing ascended forty leagues from Sankderank^ you arrive at my vil- lage, which is on the height of a point of land. We are, at the f most, distant only two days' journey from the English settlements, I while it takes us more than a fortnight to reach Quebec, and the I journey is very painful and difficult. It would therefore be t natural that our Indians should trade with the English, and 1 every possible inducement has been held out to them to attract I and gain their friendship ; but all these efforts were useless, and ; nothing was able to detach them from their alliance with the French. And yet the only tie which unites us so closely is their firm attachment to the Catholic faith. They are convinced that if they give themselves up to the English, they will shortly find I themselves without a missionary, without a sacrifice, without a % sacrament, and even without any exercise of religion, so that lit- 1 tie by little, they would be plunged again into their former hea- I thenism. This firmness of our Indians has been subjected to I many kinds of tests by their powerful neighbors, but without M their being ever able to gain anything. m At the time 'that the war was about to be rekindled between the European powers, the English governor, who had lately ar- rived at Boston, requested a conference with our Indians by the M sea-shore, on an island which he designated.* They consented, 1 [*Tliis was Governor Dudley in 1703. They met at Casco. The ac- f count of this interview given by Rale, differs so much from that of the if '*•■ ' - t "i 2. .H i-rr^ll f1-' ''% ■<-^m .V .<^f joiemk imiiji ^K'l^^ Hv . )■ ■- Ig' |^^B>? . flKi':. ■ '*ii^ ^^■''^..t A ■ ^■■■|;: u W 1 ■ 'ir Bill ^! ill '!ii.: ;i li hi': . I ^ 52 JESUITS IN AMERICA. and beg^jd me to accompany tliem thither, that they might con- sult me with regard to any artful propositions which might be made to them, so that they could be assured their answers would contain nothing contrary to their religion or the interest of the King's service. I therefore followed them, with the intention of merely remaining in their quarters, to aid their counsels, without appearing before the Governor. As we approached the island, being more than two hundred canoes in number, the English saluted us with the discharge of all the cannon of their ships, and the Indians responded to it by a similar discharge from all their guns. Immediately afterwards the Governor appeared on the island, the Indians hastily landed, and I thus found myself where I did not desire to be, and where the Governor did not wish that I should bo. As soon as he perceived me, he advanced some steps to where I was, and after the Ubiial compliments returned to the midst of his people, while I rejoined the Indians. " It is by the order of our Queen," said he, '• that I have come to see you : she earnestly desires that you should live in peace. If any of the English should be so imprudent as to wrong you, do not think to avenge yourselves, but immediately address your complaints to me, and I will render you prompt justice. If war should happen to take place between us and the French, remain neutral, and do not in any way mix yourselves in our difficulties. The French are as strong as we arc : permit us therefore to settle our own quarrels. We will supply your wants, we will take your furs, and we will afford you our merchandise at a moderate price," My presence prevented Lim from saying all that he had intended, for it was not without design that he had brought a minister with him. When he had ceased speaking, the Indians retired to deliber- ate among themselves on the answer they should make. During New England historians that it is impossible in any way to reconcile them. See, for example, Penhallow's Indian warS; N. H. Hist. Coll. vol. 1. p. 20.] this ti said 1 replie( eugag( luivc S] by a bj veruor cod, an 'I '^'' V man in French :^, both fo: 'I I two fire I see you 'IthcFrc I I am so '^ you hat ■m tend to I my ma J: hatchet -J I luinc an i possible ■■I i mam qi f to defei i nothing I main qi I Thus lour Inc i ship hac •|and En; I accord ir i doffs to I themsel THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 53 this time the Governor took me aside. " I pray you. Monsieur," said he, "do not induce the Indians to make war on us." I replied to him " that my religion, and my character as a priest, euii-agod me to give them only tiie counsels of peace." I should have spoken more, had I not found mj self immediately surrounded by a band of some twenty young warriors, who feared lost the Go- vernor wished to take me away. Meantime the Indians advan- ced, and one of them made the Governor the following reply: — " Great Chief, you have told us not to unite with the French- man in case that you declare war against him. Know that the Frenchman is my brother ; we have one and the same Prayer both for him and ourselves, and we dwell in the same cabin at I two fires, he is at one fire and I am at the other fire. If I should see you enter the cabin on the side of the fire where my brother the Frenchman is seated, I should watch you fi*om my mat where I am seated at the other fire. If, observing you, I perceived that you had a hatchet, I should think, what does the Englishman in- tend to do with that hatchet ? Then I should raise myself from uiy mat to see what he was going to do. If he lifted the hatchet to strike my brother the Frenchman, I should seize luinc and rush at the Englishman to strike him. Would it be possible for me to see my brother struck in my cabin, and I re- main quiet on my mat? No, no, I love my brother too well not to defend him. Thus I would say to you, Great Chief, do nothing to my brother, and I will not do anything to you. Re- main quiet on your mat, and I will remain quietly on mine." Thus the conference ended. A short time afterwards some of our Indians arrived from Quebec, and reported that a French ship had brought the news of war being renewed between France and England. Immediately our Indians, after having deliberated according to their custom, ordered their young people to kill the dogs to make a war feast, and to learn there who wished to engage themselves. The feast took place, they arranged the kettle, they ■•.a.S' ' l' I m 04 JESUITS IN AMERICA. 'M- ' .1 W^'^M' danced, and two hundred and fifty warriors were present. After the festival they appointed a day to come to confession. I ex- horted them to preserve the same attachment to their Prayer that they would have in the village, to observe strictly the laws of war, not to be guilty of any cruelty, never to kill any one except in the heat of combat, to treat humanely those who surrendered themselves prisoners, &c. The manner in which these people make war, renders a hand- ful of their warriors more formidable, than would be a body of two or three thousand European soldiers. As soon as they have entered the enemy's country, they divide themselves into different parties, one of thirty warriors, another of forty, &c, They say to each other, " To you, we give this hamlet to devour," (that is their expression), " To tliose others we give this village, &c." Then they arrange the signal for a simultaneous attack, and at the same time on different points. In this way our two hundred and fifty warriors spread themselves over more than twenty leagues of country, filled with villages, hamlets, and man- sions ; on the day designated they made their attack together early in the morning, and in that single day swept away all that the English possessed there, killed more than two hundred, and took five hundred prisoners, with the loss on their part of only a few warriors slightly wounded. They returned from this ex- pedition to the village, having each one two canoes loaded with the plunder they had taken. During the time that the war lasted, they carried desolation into all the territories which belonged to the English, ravaged their villages, their forts, their farms, took an immense number of their cattle, and made more than six hundred prisoners. At length these gentlemen, pursuaded with reason that in keeping my Indians in their attachment to the Catholic faith, I was more and more strengthening the bonds which united them to the French, set in operation every kind of wile and artifice to detach it shouh [* Tliis ill 171.'). the lithe hallow ar( THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. Inuiubei' irs. At Ikeeping las more to tlic detach them from mo. Neither offers nor promises were spared to in- duce the ludianf* to deliver me into their hands, or at least to scud me back to Quebec, and take one of their ministers in my place. They made many attempts to surprise mo and carry mc oil" by force ; they even went so far as to promise a tliousand pounds sterling to any one who would bring them my head. You may well believe, my dear brother, that these threats arc able neither to intiiaidate me, nor diminish my zeal. I should be only too happy if I might become their victim, or if God should judge me worthy to be loaded with irons, and to shed my blood for the salvation of my dear Indians. At the first news which arrived of peace liaving been made in Europe, the Governor of Boston sent word to our Indians, that if they would assemble in a place which he designated, he would confer with them on the present conjuncture of affairs.* All the Indians accordingly repaired to the place appointed, and the Governor addressed them thus : — " Men of JVamnhous, I would inform you that peace is made between the King of France and our Queen, and by this treaty of peace the King of France has ceded to our Queen, Plaisanco and Portrail, with all the adjacent territories. Thus, if you wish, we can live in peace together. We have done so in former times, but the suggestions of the French have made you break it, and it was to please them that you came to kill us. Let us forget all these unfortunate affairs, and cast them into the sea, so that they shall not appear any more, and we may be good friends." "It is well", replied the Orator in the name of the In- dians " that the Kings should be in peace ; I am contented that it should be so, and have no longer any difficulty in making [* This was after the war was brought to a close by the Treaty of Utrecht ill 1713. Gov. Dudley at that time again met the Indians at Portsmouth on the nth of July, 1713. Here again the accounts given by Rale and Pen- hallow are widely different.] '»•»« P m 56 JESUITS IN AMERICA. liVM In I i|:r U -!■: -!j ■ y 111 peace with you. I was not the one who struck you during the last twelve years ; it was the Frenchmen who used my arm to strike you. Wo were at peace, it is true. I had even thrown away nij hatchet I know not where, and as I was reposing on my mat thinking of nothing, the young men brought a message which tlie Governor of Canada had sent, and by which ho said to me, ' My son, the Englishman has struck me ; help me to avenge myself: take the hatchet, and strike the Englishman.' I, who luive always listened to the words of the French Governor, search for my hatchet, I find it entirely rusted, I burnish it up, I place it at my belt to go and strike. Now, the Frenchman tells nic to lay it down ; I therefore throw it far from me, that no one raaj longer see the blood with which it is reddened. Thus, let us live in peace ; I consent to it, " But you say that the Frenchman has given you Plaisance and Portrail, which is in my neighborhood, with all the adjacent tcni tories. He may give you anything he pleases, but for me. I have uiy land which the Great Spirit has given me to live on : as long as there shall be child remaining of my nation, he will fight to preserve it '' Every thing ended in this friendly way : the Governor made a great feast for the Indians, after which each one withdrew. The happy arrival of peace, and the tran(iuillity they began to enjoy, suggested to the Indians the idea of rebuilding our Clmrcli, ruined during a sudden irruption which the English made, while they were absent from the village.* As we were very far re- moved from Quebec, and were much nearer Boston, they sent a deputation thither of several of the principal men of the nation to ask for workmen, with the promise of paying them liberally for their labor. The Governor received them with great denioii' strations of friendship, and gave them all kinds of caresses. "I wish myself to rebuild your Church", said he, " and I will [*Tlii3 is known in New England history as the expedition of Coloud Hilton in 1705.J lians, ^e spok( one may it us live anco and 311 1 tcrii have uiv y as there serve it,' r made a w. began to Cliurcli, de, while y far re- ey sent a le nation liberally it demon- ses. "I d I will of Colonel THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 67 Lneiid more for you, than has been done by the French Governor, rhom you call your father. It would be his duty to rebuild it, linco it was in some degree fur his sake that it was ruined, by iducing you to strike me ; for, as for me, I defend myself as I im able • he on the contrary, after having used you for his de- leuce has abandoned you. I will do much more for you, for not Ljjly ^yill I grant you the workmen, but I wish also to pay them lysclf, and to defray all the other expences of the edifice which jow desire to have erected. But as it is not reasonable that I fho am English should build a Church, without placing there Llrio an English Minister to guard it, and to teach the Prayer, I n\\ give you one with whom you will be contented, and you ^Lall send back to Quebec the French Minister who is now in jom' village." "Your words astonish mo," replied the deputy of the In- iians, " and you excite my wonder by the proposition which bu make to me. When you first came hither, you saw me a . long time before the French governors ; but neither those who b-eceded you, nor your ministers have spoken to me of prayer, ^r of the Great Spirit. They have seen my furs, my skins of le beaver and the elk, and it is about these only they have lought ; these they have sought with the greatest eagerness, so |hat I was not able to furnish them enough, and when I carried lem a large quantity I was their great friend, but no further. )n the contrary, ray canoe having one day missed the route, I st my way, and wandered a long time at random, until at last landed near Quebec, in a great village of the Algonquins, where e black Robes* Were teaching. Scarcely had I arrived when ne of the black Robes came to see me. I was loaded with furs, |ut the French black Robe scarcely deigned to look at them. ^e spoke to me at once of the Great Spirit, of Paradise, of Hell, |f the Prayer, which is the only way to reach Heaven. I heard * The Jesuits. 4* .•I ;fr ^,-1;- : .■■|- .*./ifi ■',m ;■ '"is 08 JESUITS IN AMERICA. V !' :'i :l *; ' i^lii'i in I f Hi 1 j, j, ..i„ s '^.^uu him with pleasure, and so much dcliglitcd in his conversatioui, that I remained a h)ng time in that village to listen to them In fine, the Prayer pleased me, and 1 asked liim to inHtru(,'t luu; I demanded JJaptism, and I received it. At last I returned ti my country, and related what had happened to me. They envied my happiness, they wished to participate in it, tliey departed to find the black Robe and demand of him Uaptism. It is thus tliat the French have acted towards mo. If as soon as you had souii mo, you had spoken to mc of the Prayer, I sliould have had the unhappiness to pray as you do, for I was not capable of discover- ing whether your Prayer was good. Tlius, I tell you that I lioW to the Prayer of the Freiich ; I agree to it, and I shall be faith- ful to it even until the earth is burnt and destroyed. Keep i\m your workmen, your gold, and your minister, I will not speak to you more of them : I will ask the French Governor y father, to send them to me." Indeed, Monsieur the Governor had no sooner been apprised of the ruin of our Church, than ho sent some workmen to rebuilJ it. It possesses a beauty which would cause it to be admired even in Europe, and nothing has been spared to adorn it. You have been able to see by the detail I have given in my letter to my Nephew, that in the depths of these forests, and among these Indian tribes, the Divine service is performed with much pro- priety and dignity. It is to this point that I am very attentive, not only when the Indians reside in the village, but also all the time that they are obliged to remain by the sea-shore, where they go twice each year, for the purpose of obtaining means of subsis- tence. Our Indians have so entirely destroyed the game in this part of the country, that during ten years they have scarcely found either elk or roebuck. The bears and beavers have also become very rare. They have scarcely anything on which to live but Indian corn, beans, and pumpkins. They grind the corn between two stones to reduce it to meal, ihon they make it into a kiiii! fi.sh. land ['i com. 0.slio.s ti lid the At a tli.staut, [(juautiti ;if he cc jliiigs, vc ionc upo L if th ^en days ^jilautiug i It is 01 liot Ldvc i |Aftcr thii >hiill go t 'tot ordim jAssuinpti iiiesscngc: have arrii pf all the ihosc whc ^e are in tillage to harvest, b le hard fc lope you the means Such and THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 00 r.siitioib to them •IK.'t lUf; y envied artod to liuH that had soon I had tilt discover- lit I liold be fuitli- !eop thi'U spcaii to y father, apprised rc])uild admired it. You letter to )iig these ich pro- all the [ere they subsis- le in this [scarcely lave also rhich to the corn it into .fh which they often 1th dried season with fat oi jfisli. When the corn fails them, they search in the ploughed land for potatoes, or acorns, which last they esteem as much as [(■((111. After having dried them, they arc boiled in a kettle with inslics to take away their bitterness. For myself I cat them dry, [and tlioy answer for bread. At u particular season of the year, they repair to a river not far '•distant, where during one month the fish ascend in such great ^(juantitics, that a person could fill fifty thousand barrels in a day, if he could endure the labor. They are a kind of large lier- jiugs, very agreeable to the taste when they arc fresh ; crowding one upon another to the depth of a foot, they are drawn out lis if tliey were water. The Indians dry them for cigiit or |teu days, and live on them during all the time that they are planting their fields. < It is only in the Spring that they plant their corn, and they do tiot give them their last tillage until towards Corpus-Christi Day. ,JAftcr this they deliberate as to what spot on the sea-shore they 'jhall go to find something to live on until the harvest, which does jiot ordinarily take place until a little after the Festival of the Assumption.* When their deliberations are over, they send a inessengcr to pray me to repair to their assembly. As soon as I lave arrived there, one of them addresses me thus in the name Lttentive, i j,f r^w ^\^q others. " Our father, what I say to you is what all those whom you see here would say ; you know us, you know that Ve are in want of food, we have had difficulty in giving the last tillage to our fields, and now have no other resource until the larvest, but to go and seek provisions by the sea-shore. It will le hard for us to abandon our Prayer, and it is for this reason we lope you will be willing to accompany us, so that while seeking the means of living, we shall not at all interrupt our Prayer. Buch and such persons will embark you, and what you have to [* The 15tli of August.] '( ^Mi i. i%U CO JESUITS IN AMERICA. |-'ls' ;' mn f i I t^'i^ ■ .fl;l, carry with you shall be distvibuted in the other canoes. Tliis i; what I have to say to you." I have no sooner replied to tb.jc; keldkberba, (it is an Indian term which implies, I hear you, m: children, I agree to what you ask,) than they all cry out togotlie uriuric, which is an expression of thanks. Immediately after wards we leave the village. As soon as they reach the place where they are to pass tlv night, they fix up stakes at intervals in the form of a chape! they surround them with a large tent made of ticking, which h no opening except in front. It is all finished in a quarter o" ai hour. I always carry with me a beautiful board of cedar aboa: four feet in length, with the necessary supports, and this semi for an altar, while above it they place an appropriate ca'^opy. : ornament the interior of the Chapel with very beautiful si!; cloths ; a mat of reeds dyed and admirably made, a large bes: skin serves for a carpet. They carry this always prepared, ac: no sooner are they settled down than the Oiapel is arrange! At night I take my repose on a carpet ; the Indians sleep in tlii air in the open fields if it does not rain, but if the snow or tl; rain falls, they cover themselves with bark which they carry m: them, and which they have rolled out until it resembles clod If their journey is made in the winter, they remove the sno' from a space large enough for the Chapel to occupy, and arraiij; it as usual. There eacli day is made the morning and eveiiir prayers, and the Sacrifice of the Mass is oftered up. When the Indians have reached their destination, the ver next day they occupy themselves in raising the Church, wlik' they dress up with their bark cloths. I carry with me my plat: and every thing which is necessary to ornament the choir, wlii:. I hang with silk cloths and beautiful calicos. Divine Service i| performed there as at the village, and in tact they form a kiudd village with all their wigwams made of bark, which are all ptij pared in less than an hour. After the Festival of the Assuiii;| .i(/,i! THE WANDERINGS OF FATHER RASLES. 61 m This i. to i\\m you, 111; togetlie ily aftci' pass tb 1 cliapel yliicli liiii ter o" a: iar aboffi! his servtif a^opy. atiful sil; large k's: 3arcd, an; arrange; leep in \\: ow or tl; carry u: ibles clott • tlic SHi-' Ind arraii: lid cveiiir L the ver |irch, wbie my plat- )ir. wliK Service 3 la a kindi:i ire all p4 Ihoir. lie Assum; tion they leave t^c sea and return to their village for the pur- pose of reaping their harvest. During this time they are obliged to live very sparingly until All-Saints' Day,* when they return a second time to the sea. It is while there, during this season, that they fare daintily. Besides the large fish, the shell-fish, and the fruits, they find also bustards, ducks, and all kinds of game, v.ith wliich the sea is covered at the place where they encamp, which is divided up by a great number of little islands. The hunters who go out in the morning to shoot ducks and other kinds of game, sometimr s kill twenty of them at a single dis- charge of their guns. Towards the Festival of the Purification, f or later towards Ash-Wednesday, they return to the village, ex- cept the hunters, who disperse about in pursuit of the bears, elks, deer, and beavers. These good Indians have often given proofs of their sincere attachment for me, particularly on two occasions, when being with them r.t the sea-shore, they became exceedingly alarmed on my account. One day while they were busy in the chase, a rcpors was suddenly spread, that a party of the English had made an irruption into iny quarters and carried me off". In that very hour they assembled, and the result of their deliberation was, that they would pursue the party until they had overtaken it, and would I snatch me from their hands, even at the cost of life. The same I instant they sent two young Indians to my cabin, the night being ;f then far advanced. When they entered my cabin. I was engaged I in composing the life of a saint in the Indian language. '• Ah, our father!" they cried out, "how relieved we are to see you!'' '•And I am equally rejoiced to see you," I replied; "but what has brought you here at so unusual a time V '• Our coming is indeed useless," said they ; " but we were assured that the Eng- lish had carried you oif. We came to mark their tracks, and our warriors could scarcely be restrained from pursuing them, and ., [* The l. ■fr- *i 1 1 , - i ;lv ■j .k . 17 A. K ,!■?-.■« 5fi- 64 JESUITS IN AMERICA. |iri|l .' -'=i^^' lii i I ill;:::!-,! 1*, f iilifv ^¥, raH ■.*!> * -'^ r4nnl , '1 . n "■} IP * ^ t % ' *■- ■ ;'t ".i 4 11 ■J iitn ml' i^;l ■ r . i: i 1 ...1 li'^ I E 14 1 DEATH OF FATHER RASLES 17S4. Hi I ': a.h^H > .'^'"^H " ^'•■''^■^ ' '''•!« \'''M 't ' •''•■^♦'■^ "/'ijn^ifi'' 4 M'4nfHffl ' '■^^■^8 "'^■^ ' '^tiBi • '-^>^H ^ ^^^iflffl ' '■ '"'M ■■ >..t V* '■> ■.': ' i , ' *■ > ■ ' ■'■'a ■.;.i - if 1 1 ^^^^^^V* ^^H -' 1 n PHUPP. '' t»-^ '; ■ 1 '■ t ' k ■ " . . "' ■ ■' V' ■ ■ , *■ r 1 ..;,: :k I' '■■■^ i.'l ! 1> :•■ I- V l\ I FROM Pj NE :! •i;!). M MY REV] In i loldost M :^faIIon a •v jthc licarl [by prcvio t'twcon < klesirc to lubjcctioi that luisu ■rupture. The Fa ceedingly in streiiu't iest obst.'K tlieir laiK pno occasi last tliey 1 f r hate, ai at the saiil which was :.* r« -0 f tfl LETTER III. ; PROM FATHER DE LA CHASSE, SUPERIOR GENERAL OF MISSIONS IN NEW FRANCE, TO FATHER * * * OF THE SAME SOCIETY. At Quebec, the 29th of October, 1724. ImY REVEREND FATHER, The Peace of our Lord be ivith you : In the deep grief wliich we feel for the loss of one of our loldost Missionaries, it is a sweet consolation for us, that he has jfalleu a victim to his love, and his zeal to preserve the faith in the hearts of his neophytes. You have been already apprized by previous letters of the origin of the war which was kindled up jctwecn the English and the Indians. In the former it was the Idcsirc to extend their dominions ; in the latter, the horror of all fgubjection and the attachment to their religion, caused at first 'tluit misunderstanding, which was at length followed by an open rupture. The Father Rasles, missionary to the Abiiakis, had become ex- ceeilingly ndious to the English. Convinced that his industry in strengthening the Indians in their faith constituted the great- est obstacle to the design they had formed of encroaching upon tlicir lands, they set a price upon his head ; and, on more than one occasion, endeavored either to capture or destroy him. At last thoy have effected their object in satisfying their transports of hate, and freeing tliemselves from this apostolical man ; but. at the same time, they have procured for him a glorious death, which was always the height of his desires ; for we know that for 1 'I ' •I, - ; j!Sl ; : I ■ r P' i"'! >'•■<■ i .1 t'.f: ■ ' I" 'ilV,i;.' IlitJi; 1! . m:. Ill; ■'T - 1 :■ •»! ' :i- =:.•;■ . ' fiiii ^''i III ^ ■ (I I':.! ." ■ !;1 rat l:<|i. '^T, 70 JESUITS IN AMERICA. a long timo Lo had aspired to tho happiness of sacrificing his life for his flock. I will describe to you in a few words tho circum- stances of this event. After frequent hostilities had taken place on one side and the other between the two nations, a small force, composed of the English and their Indian allies to the number of about eleven hundred men, came unexpectedly to attack the village of Nan- rantsouak. Tho thick brushwood by which the village is .sur- rounded, aided them in concealing their march, and as besides it was not even enclosed by palisades, the Indians taken by sur- prise, did not perceive the approach of their enemies, until thoy received a general discharge of musketry which riddled all the cabins. There were at that time but about fifty warriors in tho village. At the first noise of the muskets they tumultuously seized their arms, and went forth from their cabins to make head against the enemy. Their design was, not rashly to sustain a contest with so groat a number of combatants, but to cover the flight of the women and children, and to give them time to gain the other side of the river, which was not as yet occupied by the English. Father Rasles, warred by tho clamors and the tumult, of the peril which threatened his neophytes, promptly went forth from his house, and without fear presented himself before the enemy, His hope was, either to suspend, by his presence, their firs: efforts, or, at least, to draw on him silone their attention, and thus, at the expense of his own life, to procure the safety of his flock. The instant they perceived the missionary they raised a gene- ral shout, followed by a discharge of musket balls which rained on him. He fell dead at the foot of a large cross which he had erected in the middle of the village, to mark the public profes- sion they had made to adore in that place the crucified God, DEATH OF FATHER RASLES. 71 Sovcn Indians who surrounded him, and who exposed their lives ti) preserve tliat of their Father, were killed at his side.* The death of the shepherd spread eonstcrnatiou through the flock The Indians took to flight, and crossed the river, part by tlic ford and part by swimming. Tliey liad to endure all the furv of their enemies, even to the moment when they took refuge ill the woods on the other side of the river. There they found themselves assembled to the number of about a hundred and fifty. Although more than two thousand muoket shots had been directed against • them, they had but about thirty persons killed, including women and children, and fourteen wounded. The Knglish did not attempt to pursue the fugitives, but contented tlieuiselves with pillaging and burning the village. The fire which they kindled in the church was preceded by an unhallowed profanation of the sacred vessels and of the adorable body of Jesus Christ. The precipitate retreat of the enemy permitted the Nanrant- souakans to return to the village. On the morrow, they visited the ruins of their cabins, while the women on their part sought for herbs and plants to dress the wounded. Their first care was to weep over the body of their missionary ; they found it pierced with a thousand wounds, his scalp taken oif, the skull split by blows of a hatchet, the mouth and eyes filled with mud, the bones of the legs broken, and all the limbs mutilated. They were scarcely able to attribute except to the Indian allies of the En- H ■f ti .: '.^ ■-;: I a gene rained he had ,c prefer led God. I [* Hutchinson's account {Hist. v. ii., p. 311), which is gathered from those ■ present in the actioli, diiFcrs widely from that of Fere de la Cliussc. He 'j states that the force .sent on this expedition only amounted to two hundred J and eight men. His narrative of Rale's death is, that he shut himself up in i a Trigwani, from whicli he fired upon the English. Moulton.the commandei', J luul given orders not to kill the priest. But a wound inllictod upon one of V ilic English by Rale's fire, so exasperated Jacques, a lieutenant, that h« I'urst the door, and shot Rale through the head.] t * "■ ' it ■ ••■K^ *■'" r'M -}•■ ■h ■ ' " ■y ': '«• ♦ - ti V [■ •-'J:' m. t iif- ,f>f \-y : -M iV ■ 1 r' ; . •• "ir I '■'' -'tii n IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A {./ A I/. (/. ^ ^ 1.0 iffl^ III HM 12.2 li i.l 1.25 2.0 U IIIIII.6 6" '^i '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 f\ iV m <* ^ N^ ^ V WrS u if' ^1 . .^1 ;iil;'li- If: -I ir-H'' ■■■, ' ■■ : ifi 72 JESUITS IN AMERICA. glish, such an excess of inhumanity on a body deprived of feel- ing and of life. After these fervent Christians had washed and kissed many times the precious remains of their Father, they buried him in the same spot where the evening before he had celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that is, on the place where the altar had stood before the burning of the Church.* It is by so precious a death that this apostolical man finished, on the 23rd of August of this year, a career of thirty-seven years passed in the painful toils of this mission. He was in the G7tli year of his age. His fasts and continual fatigues had latterly enfeebled his constitution. During the last nineteen years lie had dragged himself about with difficulty, in consequence of a [* In one of the former letters we gave a quotation from Whittier's be;n.- tiful poem, describing the scene which might have been "witnessed in that little Indian village, during the ministry of Rale. In the following lines lie has pictured the ruin as it was presented to some Indian wanderers shortly after the battle. From that bloody day the Norridgwock tribe was hlottel out from the list of the Indian nations. " No wigwam smoke is curling there ; The very earth is scorched and bare ; And they pause and listen to catch a sound Of breathing life, but there comes not one, Save the fox's bark and the rabbit's bound ; And here and there, on the blackening ground, White bones are glistening in the sun. And where the house of prayer arose. And the holy hymn at daylight's close. And the aged priest stood up to bless The children of the wilderness. There is naught, save ashes sodden and dank. And the birchen boats of the Norridgwock, Tctliered to tree, and stump, and rock. Rotting along the river bank !"] I, ■ , el ^\l^ DEATH OF FATHER RASLES. 73 fall in which he broke his rigjht thigh and his lei't leg. It hap- pened that the fractured parts having badly united, it became necessary to break the left leg anew. While they were drawing it most violently, he sustained this painful operation with cxtra- ordiuary firmness and admirable tranquillity. Our physician who was present appeared so astonished, that he could not for- bear saying to him : " Ah, my Father, permit at least some groans to escape you, for you have cause for them." Father Easles joined to talents which made him an excellent missionary, those virtues which are necessary for the Evangeli- cal 3Iinistry, to be exercised with eflfcct among our Indians. He enjoyed robust health, and with the exception of the accident I have mentioned, I do not know that he ever had the least in- disposition. We were surprised at his industry and readiness in ac<]uiiing the different Indian languages. There was not oae on this continent of which he had not some smattering. Besides the Abnakis language, which he spoke for a long time, he knew also the Huron, the Otaouais, and the Illinois. He availed him- self of them with great effect in the different missions where they are used, Since his arrival in Canada, he was never seen to act inconsistently with his character ; he was always firm and courageous, severe to himself, tender and compassionate in his regard to others. It is but three years since, that by order of Monsieur our Governor, I made a journey through Acadia, In conversation with Father Easles, I represented to him that in case they de- clared war against the Indians, he would run the risk ox' his life ; that his village being but fifteen leagues distant from the En- glish forts, he would find himself exposed to the fivst irrup- tions ; that his preservation was necessary to his flock, and that he ought to take measures for his own security. " My measures are taken," he answered in a firm tone ; " God has committed this flock to my care, and I will share its lot, being too happy ^i;-: ^0 oil •I U4:.- '■.i*f f .'i ^:r:- iiih i,^" I" i,|r;;;: t ,>■ I 74 JESUITS IN AMERICA. if permitted to sacrifice myself for it." He repeated often the same thing to his neophytes, to strengthen their constancy in tli'i faith. " We have had but too good a proof," they themsches have said to me, " that our dear Father spoke to us from tlio abundance of his heart ; we have seen him with a tranquil and serene air meet death, and oppose himself alone to the fury of the enemy, to retard their first efibrts, for the purpose of giving us time to escape the danger, and to preserve our lives." As a price had been set upon his head, and they had attempted at different times to capture him, the Indians proposed to biin during the last spring, that they should conduct him farther into the country on the side towards Quebec^ where he would be pro- tected from the perils by which his life was menaced. " "What opinion then have you of me," he answered, with an air of indig- nation ; " do you take me for a cowardly deserter ? Ah ! what would become of your faith, if I should desert you ? Your sal- vation is dearer to me than my life." He was indefatigable in the exercises of his zeal. Without cessation being occupied in exhorting the Indians to virtue, lie thought of nothing but making them earnest Christians. Hi? manner of preaching, vehement and pathetic, made a vivid im- pression on their hearts. Some families of the Loups,* arrive] lately from Crange,t have told me with tears in their eyes, that they were indebted to him for their conversion to Christianity Having received Baptism from him about thirty years ago, tlie instructions which he at that time gave them, had never beeu effaced from their minds, so efficacious had been his words, and so deep their traces in the hearts of those who heard them. He was not contented with instructing the Indians almost every day in the church, but often visited them in their cabins. Hi? familiar conversations charmed them, since he knew how to tcni per them with a holy cheerfulness, which pleased the Indians * Indian nations. [t Fort Orange — Albany.] 111*. liiture, '' .t !■ 1 DEATH OF FATHER RASLES. iO ;tempted d to bim : ther into \ be pro- " What of IndiL'- l1i! what STour sal- Without i^irtue, 111 ns. Hi< vivid im- arrivcil yes, tliai istlanity ado, tilt 3vcr been ords. and icm. lost every ins. Ili^ 1 w to tell!' ludiaDs >auy.] much more than a grave and sombre air. Thus he had the art to persuade them whatever he wished, and he was among them as a master in the midst of his scholars. Notwithstanding the continual occupations of his ministry, he never omitted the Holy Exercises which are observed in our re- ligious houses. He rose and offered his prayers at the hour which is there appointed. He never excused himself from the eight days of retreat from the world in each year, and had set apart for this purpose the first days of Lent, which is the time that the Saviour entered into the desert. " Unless we fix a par- ticular time in the year for these holy exercises," he one day baid to me, " one occupation succeeds another, and after many delays we run the risk of not finding time to observe them ?" Religious poverty was exemplifl'ed in all his person, in his fur- niture, in his food, and in his dress. In a spirit of mortification he interdicted himself the use of wine, even when he found him- .Nclf anioiig the French. His ordinary nourishment was a prepar- ation of meal of Indian corn. During certain winters, when the Indians were often in want of everything, he found himself re- duced to live on acorns ; but far from complaining, he never sceiiied better contented. During the last tnree years of his life, while the war prevented the Indians from freely entering into the chase, or planting their fields, their necessities became ex- treme, and the Missionary often found himself in dreadful want. It became necessary to send to him from Quebec the provisions required for his subsistence. " I am ashamed," he wrote to me, " of the care which you take of me : a Missionary born to suffer should not be so well treated." He did not suffer any O'le to lend a hand to assist him in the most ordinary cares, but always attended to himself He culti- vated his own garden, prepared his own firewood, attended to bis cabin and his hominy, repaired his old clothes, endeavoring in the spirit of poverty to make them last as long as possible. '>'''i'll *e- rm m t 76 JESUITS IN AMERICA. "•'■J, ■;|'r '''"'■■'it m ':i M The cassock which he had on at the time he was killed, seemed so worn and in so miserable a state to those who stripped him of it, that they did not think it worth carrying off, as they had at first intended. They threw it back on his body, and it was sent to us at Quebec. To the same extent that he treated himself severely was he compassionate and charitable to others. He retained nothing for himself, but everything that he received he immediately distribu- ted to his poor neophytes. Thus the greater part have given at his death demonstrations of grief more vivid than if they hud lost their nearest relations. He took extraordinary pains to ornament and embellish bis church, being persuaded that this external show which produced an efiFect on the senses, animated the devotion of uncivilized peo- ple, and inspired them with the most profound veneration for our holy mysteries. As he knew a little of painting, and also understood the art of turning, it was decorated wivh many works which he had himself executed. You will well judge, my Reverend Father, that these virtues of which New France was the witness during so many years, liad gained for him the respect and affection both of the Fronch and Indians. Thus he was universally regretted. No one can doubt but that he was put to death out of hatred to his ministry, and his zeal in establishing the true faith in the hearts of the Indians. This is the opinion which is entertained by M. de Bellemont, Superior of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice, at Montreal. Having asked from him the accustomed suffrages for the deceased, for the sake of the intercourse of prayers which we have among us, he replied to me, by using those well known words of St. Augustine, that it was doing an injury to a martyr to pray for him. " Inju- riam facit martyri qui orat pro eo." ' ' " cause, May it pk just I time after ^■ of time, -w i by some i- •:| erected iu • the site 01 I DEATH OF FATHER RASLES. 77 iemed lini of lad at IS sent yas he iug for istribu- Ivcn at ey had Usli his reduced zed pec- ition for and also ly works I may enrich these heathen lands, so often watered by the blood of the Evangelical laborers who have preceded us; that it may render them fertile in earnest Christians, and that it may ani- mate the zeal of apostolical men to come and reap the abundant harvest which is oflfered by so many people stil! shrouded in the shadow of death. Nevertheless, as it appertains only to the church to declare the names of the saints, I recommend him to your holy sacrifices, and to those of all the Fathers. And I pray you not to forget him who is with much respect, &o. virtues [ J ars, had 1 | nch and I | ubt but 1 and his | Indians. 1 llemont; ', | Having , for the us, he Igustine, « Inju- a cause, I [We cannot conclude this letter without quoting from Dr. Convers Francis' Life of Rale — to which we have been indebted for many of these notes— a couple of passages, describing the present appearance of the spot on which this tragedy took place. " Whoever has visited the pleasant town of Norridgwock, as it now is, must have heard of Indian Old Point, as the people call the place where Rale's village stood, and perhaps curiosity may have carried him thither. If so, he has found a lovely, sequestered spot in the depth of nature's stillness, on a point around which the waters of the Kennebec, not far from their confluence with those of Sandy River, sweep on in their beautiful course, as if to the music of the rapids above ; a spot over which the sad memory of the past, without its passions, will throw a charm, and on which, he will believe, the ceaseless worship of nature might blend itself with the aspirations of Christian devotion. He will find, that vestiges of the old settlement are not wanting now ; that broken utensils, giass beads, and hatchets, have been turned up by the husbandman's plough, and are pre- served by the people in the neighborhood ; and ho will turn away from the place with the feeling, that the hatef ulness of the mad spirit of war is aggra- vated by such a connection with nature's sweet retirements." — p. 321. " The spot on which the Norridgwock missionary fell, was marked, some time after his death, by the erection of a cross. This, it is said, in process of time, was cut down by a company of hunters. I believe it was replaced by some rude memorial in stone. But in 1833 a permanent monument was erected in honor of Rale An acre of land was purchased, including the site of Rale's church and his grave. Over the grave, on the 23d of '^*''<^L^ : ■* ■•; f *» M\^\4 I ■■* M im ;;fc August, 1833, tho anniversary (according to the New Style) of the fight at Norridgwock, and just one hundred and nine years after its occurrence, the foundation was laid, and the monument raised, with much ceremony, amidst a large concourse of people. Bishop Fenwick, of Boston, directed the cere- monies, and delivered an address full of appropriate interest. Delegates from the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Canada Indians, were present on the occasion. The monument is about twenty feet high, including an iron cross, with which it is surmounted. On the south side of the base, fronting the Kennebeo River, is an appropriate and somewhat long Latin inscrip- tion."— p. 329.] i ;w m ca: \'X'<\<'< ; CATHERINE, THE IROQUOIS SAINT. 1656—1715. 1 •M mi^i ^-t »\^- I' ■ , , >is '■- -A •a .'•h;4f| l^-:!- ^1^ , ■'-' fe(r • r^W''m'wtm> 4' HI m 1 afl'T; if mm MY RE\ Tk. Tn iatorces among i you of t mo in y( a witnes much ze Prelate which G has with the FroE her in si I pray at 1 I mediatel I ven othe f Reverem \ she was 1 1 LETTER IV. FROM FATHER CHOLONEC, MISSIONARY OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, TO 'FATHER AUGUSTIN LE BLANC OF THE SAME SOCIETY, PROCURATOR OF MISSIONS IN CANADA. At Sault de St. Louis, the 27th of August, 1715. MY REVEREND FATHER, The Peace of our Lord he with you : The marvels whicli God is working every day through the iatorcession of a young Iroquois female who has lived and died among us in the order of sanctity, have induced me to inform you of the particulars of her life, although you have not pressed me in your letters to enter into detail. You have yourself been a witness of these marvels, when you discharged there with so much zeal the duties of a Missionary, and you know that the high Prelate who governs this church, touched by the prodigies with which God has deigned to honor the memory of this holy maiden, has with reason called her the Genevieve of New France. All the French who are in the colonies, as well as the Indians, hold her in singular veneration. They come from a great distance to pray at her tomb, and many, by her intercession, have been im- mediately cured of their maladies, and have received from Hea- ven other extraordinary favors. I will write you nothing, my Reverend Father, which I have not myself seen during the time she was under my care, or which I have not learned of the Missionary who conferred on her the rite of holy Baptism. Tegahkouita, (which is the name of this sainted female about 5* w ''la ■r 'Mi ^^^BT ^^^.''jh ^^K ' ''^'^ ^K. ^B ; ^;^i ^^B. ^k' ' ' '-*% Wm '''% ^^M\ ''!^-^ ^Ku ','■ '^'i-Jii H:'.|| ^'W jh „ -JJHijj !'• , i ' . Jif ^ V ■M I': ^. ■ f .^1 <"■■/ ■' f" 1 1, 1 ■•■1. ■,4V| P-'' H ■" ■.■■■ : . 'i '■ ' ^ '■'■iSn ' • ! ■ . } ''• fltni ■'■' ' ■■""''!] li I ' '.\ :«l^i'.i' 82 JESUITS IN AMERICA. l!4 f '■>.'■' . V 4( 't''i". • "^1 fi ii4'r-i. whom I am going to inform you,) was born in tho year 1050, at GaiiJaouaguo, one of tho sottlemcnts of tho lowor Iroquoia, who are called Agnicz. Her father was an Iroij[uoi8 and a heathen; her mothor, who was a Christian, was an Algon(iuin, and had boon baptized at the village of Trois lliviorcs, where she was brought up among the French. During the time that wo were at war with the Iroquois, she was taken prisoner by these In. dians, and remained a captive in their country. Wo havo since learned, that thus in the very b aom of heathenism, she pre- served lier faith even to her death. By her marriage she had two children, one son and one daughter, the latter of whom is the subject of this narrative, but she had the pain to die without having been able to procure for them the grace of Baptism. The small-pox, which ravaged the Iroquois country, in a few days re- moved her husband, her son, and herself Tegahkouita was also attacked like the others, but she did not sink as they did under the violence of the disease. Thus, at the age of four years she found herself an orphan, under the care of her aunts, and in the power of an uncle who was the leading man in the settlement. The small-pox had injured her eyes, and this infirmity having rendered her incapable of enduring the glare of light, she remain- ed during whole days shut up in her wigwam. By degrees she began to love this seclusion, and at length that became her taste which she had at first endured only from necessity. This incli- nation for retirement, so contrary to the usual spirit of the young Iroquois, was the principal cause of her preserving her innocence of life while living in such scenes of corruption. When she was a little older, she occupied herself at home in rendering to her aunts all those services of which she was capa- ble, and which were in accordance with her sex. She ground the corn, went in search of water, and carried the wood ; for such, among these Indians, are the ordinary employments of females. The rest of her time she spent in the manufacture of little ai ti- ll j'illil! "'• CATIIRRINE, TIIR IROaUOIS SAINT. S3 )G, at , who then ; I had was ! wore 30 In. ) sinoo pre- 10 had loiu is i^ithout The ays re- ras also under ars she land in cment, having rcmaiii- CCS she er taste IS inch- young Qocence lome in IS capa- i clcs. for which she possosHcd an extraordinary skill. IJy tiiis iiiciiiis she avoided two rocks which would liave been ciiually I'at.d to her innocence — idleness, so common there among her own sex, and which is the source of an infinite number of vices ; nud the extreme pa.ssion thoy luivo to .spend their time in gossip- ing visits, and to show themselves in public places whore they can display their finery. For it is nijt necessary to believe that this kind of vanity is confined to civilized nations ; the females of our Indians, and especially the young girls, have a great taste for parading their ornaments, some of which they esteem very |irooiuus. Their finery consists of cloths which they buy of the Europeans, mantles of fur, and different kinds of shells, with which they cover themselves from head to foot. They have al.'-o liracclcts, and collars, and pendants for the ears and bolts. Tliey adorn even their moccasons, for these personal ornaments consti- tute all their riches, and it is in this way, by the difi'erent kinds of garments, that they mark their rank among themselves. The young Tegahkouita had naturally a distaste for all this finery which was appropriate to her sex, but she could not oppose the persons who stood to her in the place of father and mother, and to please them she had sometimes recourse to these vain ornaments. But after she became a Christian, she looked back upon it as a great sin, and expiated this compliance of which she had been guilty, by a severe penance and almost continual tears. M. do Thracy, having been sent by the government to bring to reason the Iroquois nations who laid waste our colonies, car- ried the war into their country and burned three villages of the Aguicz. This expedition spread terror among the Indians, and they acceded to the terms of peace which were offered them. Their deputies were well received by the French, and a peace concluded to the advantage of both nations. We availed ourselves of this occasion, which seemed a favora- ^41 r : r"'! 84 JESUITS IN AMERICA. m<4' :: 'yl II ' ■ .*■. .Iffl .■ ■ .. i ili :>l ble one, to send missionaries to the Iroquois. Vhey had already gained some smattering of the Gospel, which had been preacliel to them by Father logues, and particularly those of Onnontagiu amorg whom this Father had fixed his residence. It is well known that this Missionary received there that recompense of martyrdom which well befitted his zeal. The Indians at first held him in a severe captivity and mutilated his fingers, and it was only by a kind of miracle that he was able for a time to escape their fury. It seemed however that his blood was destined to be the seed of Christianity in that heathen land, for haviDg had the courage, in the following year, to return for the purpose of continuing his mission among these people who had treated him so inhumanly, he finished his apostolic career amid the tor- ments they forced him to endure.* The works of his two coei- panions were crowned by the same kind of death, and it ij without doubt to the blood of these first Apostles of the Iroquoii nation, that wo must ascribe the blessings which God poured out [* The History of Father Isaac logues is full of romantic interest. H« was the first to cai-ry the cross into Michigan and among the villages of tlie Mohawks. On his return fi-om the fulls of St. Mary escorted by some Hu- ron braves, they were taken by a war party of the Mohawks. His companion- were all put to death with the usual attendants of savage cruelty, butnc: befbre logues had baptized two of them, who were neophytes, with son drops of water he found clinging to the broad blade of an ear of India: corn they had thrown to him. After suffering every cruelty and beiii; obliged to run the gauntlet through three villages, he was in 1G12 ransonieii by the Dutch at Albany and set at liberty. He then sailed for France i; obtain permission from the Pope to celebrate the divine mysteries witliliif mutilated hands. The Pope granted his prayer, saying, "Indigmimoss: C hristi martyrum Christi non libere sanguinem." On his return to the Mc- hawks for the second time, he was at once received as a prisoner and coi:- demned to death as an enchanter. He approached the cabin where tlf death festival was kept, and as he entered, received the death blow. Hi: head was hung upon the palisades of the village, and his body thrown int. the Mohawk rivvr. Bancroft^ iii. 138.] on the istry. The roil, w accoiii] to COlif mitted made, t regions people J and fou uuseaso the adv uiake u % She was I attendiii f which si I while dh i I'ogulari ^idt'd th ' tiiiii, wL romaiiie( Tlie t lOljIiCUj w pons. village, Oiiiieiout try. Tl The foui viHage o -_•% v.ontouan, i| villages, 1 the num CATHERINE, THE IROaUOIS SAINT. 85 on the zeal of tliose who succeeded them in this evangelical min- istry. The Father Frcmin, the Father Bruyas, and the Father Pier- ron who knew the language of the country, were chosen to accompauy the Iroquois deputies, and on the part of the French to coufirm the peace which had been granted them. They com- mitted also to the Missionaries the presents which the Governor made, that it might facilitate their entrance into these barbarous regions. They happened to arrive there at a time when these people are accustomed to plunge into all kinds of debauchery, and found no one therefore in a fit state to receive them. This unseasonable period however procured for the young Tegahkouita the advantage of knowing early those of whom God wished to make use, to conduct her to the highest degree of perfection. She was charged with the task of lodging the Missionaries, and attending to their wants. The modesty and sweetness with which she acquitted herself of this duty, touched her new guests, \yhile dhe on her part was struck with their aflfable manners, their regularity in prayer, and the other exercises into which they di- vided the day. God even then disposed her to the grace ofBap- tism, which she would have requested, if the missionaries had remained longer in her village. The third day after their arrival they were Sent for ioTionnon- toquen, where their reception was to take place : it was very pom- pons. Two of the missionaries established themselves in this village, while the third commenced a mission in the village of Oaaciout, which is more than thirty leagues distant in the coun- try. The next year they formed a third mission at Annontague, The fourth was established at Tsoimontouan^ and the fifth at the village of Goiogoen. The natives of the Agnicz and the Tson- v.ontouans are very .numerous, and separated in many different villages, which is the reason why they were obliged to increase the number of the missionaries. 't 'It ■•-1^ 1 t' /jf I m - ."i'l .Mm liilitf^^^^^ IT! I ♦■; .. -'iiii:if+ ■I ■■ '\\'.mw 'lit'. m 86 JESUITS IN AMERICA. At length Tcgalikouita became of a marriageable age, and lier relations were anxious to find a husband for her, because, accord ing to the v.stoni of the country, the game which the husbac] kills in tne chase, is appropriated to the benefit of his wife an! the other members of her family. But the young Iroquois li.vj inclinations very much opposed to the designs of her relatior> She had a great love of purity, even before she knew the excel lence of this virtue, and anything which could soil it ever so lit tie, impressed her with horror, When therefore they proposed to establish her in life, she excused herself under diflferent pretests, alleging above all her extreme youth, and the little inclination she had to enter into marriage. The relatives seemed to approve of these reasons ; but a little while after they resolved to betroth her, when she least expected it, and without even allowing her a choice in the person to whom she was to be united. They therefore cast their eyes upon 5 young man whose alliance appeared desirable, and made the pro p 3ition both to him and to the members of his family. Tlie matter being settled on both sides, the young man in the evening entered the wigwam which was destined for him, and seated him self near her. It is thus that marriages are made among tlie Indians ; and although these heathen extend their dissoluteness and licentiousness to the greatest excess, there is yet no nation which in public guards so scrupulously that outward decorum which is the attendant of perfect modesty. A young man would be forever dishonored, if he should stop to converse publicly ^itli a young female. Whenever marriage is in agitation, the busi- ness is to be settled by the parents, and the parties most inter ested are not even permitted to meet. It is sufficient that tliej are talking of the marriage of a young Indian with a young fe male, to induce them with care to shun seeing and speaking v;\\\ each other. When the parents on both sides have agreed, the young man comes by night to the wigwam of his future spouse. CATHERINE, THE IROaUOIS SAINT. 87 3, and lift 3e, accord- 3 }ms}3aii(] 3 wife aiiii )quois hi relatior.5 the excel- jver so lit roposed to t pretexts, inclination 3ut a t expected Q to whom 'es upon a ie the pro- lily. Tilt he evening eated bini- imong tlie isolutencsj , no nation I decorum nan would blicly witt the ksi nost inter- that tliey young fe iking witli greed, tie ire spouse. i and .^eats himself near her ; which ia the same as declaring, that be takes her for his wife, and she takes him for her husband. Teo'ahkouita appeared utterly disconcerted when she saw the young man seated by her side. She at flr«*t blushed, and then rising abruptly, went forth indignantly from the wigwam ; nor would she re-enter until the young man left it. This firmness rendered her relatives outrageous. They considered that they had iu this way received an insult, and resolved that they would not be disappointed. They therefore attemr oed other stratagems, which served only to show more clearly the firmness of their niece. Artifice not having proved successful, they had recourse to violence. They now treated her as a slave, obliging her to do evcrythiag which was most painful and repulsive, and malignantly interpreting all her actions, ev2n when most innocent. They re- proached her without ceasing for the want of attachment to her relations, her uncouth manners, and her stupidity, for it was thus that they termed the dislike she felt to marriage. They attri- buted it to a secret hatred of the Iroquois nation, because she was herself of the Algonquin race. In short, they omitted no means of shaking her constancy. The young girl suffered all this ill treatment with unwearied patience, and without ever losing anything of her equanimity of mind or her natural sweetness ; she rendered them all the ser- vices they required with an attention and docility beyond her years and strength. By degrees, her relatives were softened, restored to her their kind feelings, and did not further molest ber in regard to the course she had adopted. At this very time Father Jacques de Lamberville was con ducted by Providence to the village of our young Iroquois, and received orders from his superiors to remain there, although it seemed most natural that he should go on to join his brother, who bad charge of the mission to the Iroquois of Otmontague. ' \ l-^-- ■ '* . < < J m > 1 J ii "m :■!) 'I . . ■■ Of' mi mi ■ f' 88 JESUITS IN AMERICA. '';i! !:!' .f--^:l tM»' ■6^! Tegalikouita did not fail to be pn sent at the iustructiona and prayers which took place every day '.n the chapel^ but she did not dare to disclose the design she had for a long time formed of be- coming a Christian ; perhaps, because she was restrained by fear of her uncle, in whose power she entirely was, and who, from in- terested motives, had joined in the opposition to the Christians • perhaps, because modesty itself rendered her too timid, and pre- vented her from discovering her sentiments to the missionary. But, at length, the occasion of her declaring licr desire for baptism presented itself, when she least expected it. A wound which she had received in the foot detained her in the village, whilst the greater part of the women were in the fields giitlierinc the harvest of Indian corn. The Missionary had selected tliis time to go his rounds, and instruct at his leisure those who were remaining in the wigwams. IIo entered that of Tegahkouita. This good girl on seeing him was not able to restrain her joy, She at once began to open her heart to him, even in presence of her companions, on the earnest desire she had to be admitted into the fold of the Christians. She disclosed also the obstacles she had been obliged to surmount on the part of her family, and in this first conversation showed a courage above her sex. The goodness of her temper, the vivacity of her spirit, her simplicity and candor, caused the Missionary to believe that one day she would make great progress in virtue. He therefore applied himself particu- larly to instruct her in the truths of Christianity, but did not think he ought to yield so soon to her entreaties : for the grace of Baptism should not be accorded to adults, and particularly in this country, but with great care and after a long probation. All the winter therefore was employed in her instruction and a rigid investigation of her manner of life. It is surprising, that notwitlistanding the propensity these Indians have for slander, and particularly those of her own sex, the Missionary did not find any one but gave a high encomium to the most her vi: tor to earncs and w[ , the res The engage herself j she wai ' tions, a ticular i prayers *' utmost to the ■t that in ^ T \ In t ; Even h ; of life 1 us by t' to unite was ver drew uj They lo their o\ they en purity. the (list: delicacy a sin, ga cence. Thee CATHERINE, THE IROaUOIS SAINT. 89 3 village, ;'atliering 3tGd this jvlio were alikouita. . her joy, 3senco of itted into s slie had this first duess of d candor, lid make particu- did not he grace ularly in iou. All d a rigid lity these own sex, mcomium to the young catechumen. Even those who had persecuted her most severely were not backward in giving their tostimony to 5 her virtue. He therefore did not hesitate any longer to adminis- I tcr to her the holy Baptism which she asked with so niueh godly I earnestness. She received it on Easter Day in the year IG76, and was named Catherine, and it is thus that I shall call her in . the rest of this letter. The only care of the young neophyte was now to fulfill the ^ engagements she had contracted. She did not wish to restrict herself to the observance of common practices, for she felt that I she was called to a more perfect life. Besides the public instruc- tions, at which she was present punctually, she requested also par- ticular ones for the regulation of her private and secret life. Her I prayers, her devotions, and her penances were arranged with the I utmost exactness, and she was so docile to form herself according to the plan of perfection which had been marked out for her, I that in a little time she became a model of virtue. In this manner several months passed away very peaceably. ; Even her relations did not seem to disapprove of the new course of life which she was leading. But the Holy Spirit has warned us by the mouth of Wisdom, that the faithful soul which begins to unite itself to God, should prepare for temptation ; and this was verified in the case of Catherine. Her extraordinary virtue drew upon her the persecutions even of those who admired her. They looked upon a life so pure, as being a tacit reproach to their own irregularities, and with the design of discrediting it, they endeavored by divers artifices to throw a taint upon its ' purity. But the confidence which the neophyte had in God, i the distrust she felt of herself, her constancy in prayer, and that ^ delicacy of conscience which made her dread even the shadow of ■ a sin, gave her a perfect vi'tory over the enemies of her inno- ;■ ceiice. I The exactness with which she observed the festival days at the 'M iJ fiT: V'' ?■: i^i t':.?j H^ii ■ m i\i ' \ 'm ■ '! ll*". Il'te \i- f'9 'I- 90 JESUITS IN AMERICA. Chapel, was the cause of another storm which came upon her on the part of her relations. The chaplet recited by two choirs is an exercise of these holy days ; this kind of psalmody awakens the attention of the neophytes and animates their devotions. They execute the hym^'' and sacred canticles which our Indian? chant, with much exactness p.nd harmony, for they have a fine car, a good voice, and a rare taste for music. Catherine never omitted this exercise. But they took it ill in the wigwam that on these days she abstained from going to work with the others in the field. At length, they came to bitter words, cast upon her the reproach, that Christianity had made her effeminate and ac- customed her to an indolent life ; they did not even allow her anything to. eat, to oblige her, by means of famine, to follow her relations and to aid in their labor. The neophyte bore with con- stancy their reproach and contempt, and preferred in those days to do without nourishment, rather than violate the law which re- quired the observance of these festivals, or to omit these ordinary practices of piety. This firmness, which nothing could shake, irritated more and more her heathen relatives. Whenever she went to the Chapel they caused her to be followed with showers of stones by drunken people, or those who feigned to be so, so that, to avoid their in- sults, she was often obliged to take the most circuitous paths, This extended even to the children, who pointed their fingers at her, cried after her, and in derision called her " the Christian." One day, when she had retired to her wigwam, a young man en- tered abruptly, his eyes sparkling with rage, and a hatchet in liis hand, which he raised as if to strike her. Perhaps he had no other design than to frighten her. But whatever might have been the Indian's intentions, Catherine contented herself with modestly bowing her head, without showing the least emotion. This intrepidity, so little expected, astonished the Indian t( such It was ur" m CATHERINE, THE IROdUOIS SAINT. 91 a degree, that he immediately took to flight, as if he had been Liinself terrified by some invisible power. It was in such trials of her patience and piety that Catherine spent the summer and autumn which followed her baptism. The winter brought her a little more tranquillity, but nevertheless, she was not freed from suffering some crosses on the part of one of her aunts. This womfin, who was of a deceitful and dangerous spirit, could not endure the regular life of her niece, and there- fore constantly condemned her, even in actions and words the most indifferent. It is a custom among these Indians, that un- cles give the name of daughters to their nieces, and the nieces reciprocally call their uncles by thu name of father. Hence it happens, that cousin-germans are commonly called brothers. It happened, however, once or twice, that Catherine called the hus- band of her aunt by his proper name, and not by that of father ; but it was entirely owing to mistake or want of thougl^t. Yet this evil spirit did not need any thing farther as the foundation on which to build up a most atrocious calumny. She pretended to believe, that this manner of expressing herself, which seemed to her so familiar, was an evidence of criminal intimacy, and im- mediately went to seek the missionary, to decry her to him, and destroy in his mind those sentiments of esteem which he had al- ways entertained for the neophyte. " Well !" she said, at once, " so Catherine whom you esteem so virtuous, is notwithstanding a hypocrite who deceives you. Even in my presence she solicited my husband to sin." The missionary, who understood the evil spirit of this woman, wished to know on what she founded an ac- cusation of this kind, and having learned what had given occa- sion to this odious suspicion, he administered to her a severe re- primand, and sent her away utterly confounded. When he after- wards mentioned it to the neophyte, she answered him with a candor and confidence which showed the absence of all falsehood. It was on this occasion that she declared, what perhaps we should R , .... ,,it ■ ■^iA •■Ll .'h». •, .. 4 m H 03 JESUITS IN AMERICA. l-i t: v^;H' !: it not have known if she had not been placed on this trial, that by the kindness of the Lord she could not remember that she had ever stained the purity of hrr person, and that she did not fear receiving any reproach on this point in the day of judgment. It was sad for Catherine to have to sustain so many conflicts and to see her innocence exposed without cessation to the out- rages and railleries of her countrywomen. And in other respects she had everything to fear in a country where so few of the peo- ple had imbibed a taste for the maxims of the Gospel. She, therefore, earnestly desired to be transplanted to some other mission where she might serve God in peace and liberty. This was the subject of her most fervent prayers, and it was also the advice of the missionary, but it was not easy to bring about. She was entirely in the power of an uncle, watchful of all her actions. and through the aversion he had for Christians, incapable of ap- preciating her resolution. But God who listens favorably cTon to the simple desires of those who place their trust in Him. dis- posed all things for the repose nnd consolation of the neophyte. A colony of Iroquois had l:^tely been formed among the Froneli. the peace which existed between the two nations having given these Indians an opportunity of coming to hunt on our lands. Many of them stopped near the prairie of the Madeleine, where the missionaries of our society who dwelt there met thera, and at different times conversed with them on the necessity of salvation, God at the same time influencing their hearts by the impressions of his grace, these Indians found themselves suddenly changed, and listened without objection to the proposition that they should renounce their country and settle among us. They received baptism after the usual instructions and probation. The example and devotion of these new converts drew to them many of their countrymen, and in a few years the Mission of St. Francis Xavier du SauU, (for it was thus that it was named.) became celebrated for the great number of its neophytes and their CATHERINE, THE IROaUOIS SAINT. 93 i extraordinary fervor. If an Iroquois had made these a visit, ever so short, even though he had no other design but to see his relatives or friends, he seemed to lose entirely the desire to re- tiu'n to his own country. The charity of these neophytes led tlicin even to divide with the new comers, the fields which they had cleared with much labor : but the way in which this feeling appeared to the greatest advantage was, in the eagerness thoy showed in instructing them in the tr;thsof our faith. To this work they devoted entire days and even a portion of the night. Their conversations, full of unction and piety, made the most lively impression on the hearts of their guests, and transformed them, so to speak, into different beings. He who a little while before breathed of nothing but blood and war, became, softened, humble, teachable, and ready to obey the most difficult maxims of our religion. This zeal did not restrict itself to those who came to visit them, but induced them also to make excursions into the differ- ent settlements of their nation, and they always returned accom- panied by a large number of their countrymen. On the very day that Catherine received Baptism, one of the most powerful of the Agiiiez returned to the mission in company with thirty of the Iroquois of that tribe whom he had gained to Jesus Christ. The neophyte would very willingly have followed him, but she depended, as I have said before, on an uncle who did not see with- out sorrow the depopulation of his village, and who openly de- clared himself the enemy of those who thought of going to live among the French. It was not until the following year that she obtained the facil- ities she wished for the execution of her design. She had an adopted sister who had retired with her husband to the Mission du Sault. The zeal of the recent converts to draw their relatives and friends to the new colony, inspired her with the same thoughts with regard to Catherine, and disclosing her designs to her hus- ^1 m l-'lji n>-<% I'J''!W ,.t: »«' M: ll 04 JESUITS IN AMERICA. band, he gave his consent. He joined himself therefore to ai Indian of Loretto and some other neophytes, who under cover of going to trade in beaver-skins with the English, travelled to the villages of the Iroquois, with the intention of engaging tlicir acquaintances to follow them, and tc share in the blessings of their conversion. With difficulty ho reached the village in which Catherine livecl, and informed her secretly of the object of his journey, and the desire his wife felt that she should be with her at the Mission du Sault, whose praise he set forth in a few words. As the neo- phyte appeared transported with joy at this disclosure, he warned her to hold herself in readiness to depart immediately on his re- turn from his journey to tlie English, which he would not have made except to avoid giving umbrage to his uncle. This " uncle was then absent, without having any suspicion of his niece's de- sign. Catherine went immediately to take leave of the mission- ary, and to ask his recommendation to the Fathers who were over the Mission du Sault. The missionary on his part, while lie could not withhold his approval of the resolution of the neophyte, exhorted her to place her trust in God, and gave her those coud" sels which he judged necessary in the present juncture. As the journey of her brother-in-law was o -ly a pretext the better to conceal his design, he almost immediately returned to the village, and the day after his arrival, departed with Catherine and the Indian of Loretto who had kept him company. It was not long before it was discovered in the village that the neophyte had disappeared, and they had no doubt but that she had fol- lower* the two Indians. They immediately therefore despatched a runner to her uncle to give him the news. The old chief, jealous of the increase of his nation, foamed with rage at the in- telligence, and immediately charging his gun with three balls, he went in pursuit of those who had accompanied his niece. lie made such haste that in a very short time he came up with them. CATHERINE, THE IROQUOIS SAINT. 95 Tlic two Indians, who had known beforehand that ho would not liiil to pursue them, had concealed the neophyte in a thick wood, aiul had stopped as if to take a little repose. The old man was very much astonished at not finding his niece witii tliein, and after a moment's conversation, coming to the conclusion tl)ut ho bad credited too easily the first rumor which had been spread, ho retraced his footsteps to the village. Catherine regarded this sudden retreat of her uncle as one effect of the protection of God which she enjoyed, and continuing her route she arrived at tlic Mission du Sault, in the end of autumn of the year 1077. She took up her abodo with the family of her brother-in-law. The cabin belonged to one of the most fervent Christians in the place, named Anastasia, whose care it was to instruct those of her own sex who aspired to the grace of baptism. The zeal with winch she discharged her duty in this employment, her conver- sations, and her example, charmed Catherine. But what edified her exceedingly was the piety of all the converts who composed this numerous mission. Above all, she was struck with seeing men become so different from what they were when they lived in their own country. She compared their exemplary life with the licentious course they had been accustomed to lead, and recog- nizing the hand of God in so extraordinary a change, she cease- lessly thanked Him for having conducted her into this land of blessings. To make a suitable return for these favors from Heaven, she felt that she ought to give herself up entirely to God, without having any reserve, or permitting any thought of herself The consecrated place became, thenceforth, all her delight. She re- paired thither at four o'clock in the morning, attended the Mass at the dawn of day, and afterwards assi ^ted at that of the In- dians, which was said at sunrise. During the course of the day she from time to time broke off from her work to go and hold communion with Jesus Christ at the foot of the altar. In the ■ I M tjl:|M J "VI ■-M h'Jt< 1 x|(| in 'tti mm W w.-' *■ 'm 00 JESUITS IN AMERICA. ovoning sho returned again to the cliurcli, and did not leave it until the night was far advanced. When engaged in her prayers, she seemed entirely unconscious of what was passing witliout. and in a short time the Holy Spirit raised her to so subliiuo a devotion, that she often spent many hours in intimate conimuuion with God. To this inclination for prayer, she joined an almost uncca.slng application to labor. She sustained herself in her toils by the pious conversations which she held with Anastasia, that fervent Christian of whom I have already spoken, and with whom she had formed a most intimate friendship, The topics on wlilcli they most generally talked were, the delight they received in the service of God, the means of pleasing him and advancing in virtue, the peculiar traits seen in the lives of the saints, the horror they should have of sin, and the care with which they should expiate by penitence those they had the misfortune to commit. She always ended the week by an exact investigation of her faults and imperfections, that she might efface them by the sacrament of penance, which she underwent every Saturday evening. For this she prepared herself by different mortifica- tions with which she afflicted her body, and when she accused herself of faults even the most light, it was with such vivid feci- ings of compunction, that she shed tears and her words were choked by sighs and sobbings. The lofty idea she had of the majesty of God made her regard the least offence with horror, and when any had escaped her, she seemed not able to pardon herself for its commission. Virtues so marked did not permit me for a very long time to refuse her the permission which she so earnestly desired, that on the approaching festival of Christmas she should receive her first communion. This is a privilege which is not' accorded to those who come to reside among the Iroquois, until after some years of probation and many trials ; but the piety of Catherine placed her CATHERINE, THE IROaUOTS SAINT. 07 t«* beyond the ordinary rules. She participated, for tlio first time iii her life, in tho holy Eucharist, with a degree of fervor propor- tioned to tho rovoronco she had for this grace, and the earnest- ness with which she had desired to obtain it. And on every subsequent occasion on which sho approached the holy sacrament, it was always with the same disposition. Iler manner alone in- t;pircd tho most lukewarm with devotion, and when a general connnunion was about to take place, the most virtuous neophytes undeavored with emulation to be near her, because, said they, tho sight alone of Catherine served them for an excellent preparation for communing worthily. After tho festival of Christmas, it being the proper season for tho chase, she was not able to excuse herself from following her sister and brother-in-law into tho forests. She then made it apparent, that one is able to serve God in all places where his providence calls him. She did not relax any of her ordinary exercises, while her piety even suggested to her holy practices to substitute in place of those which were incompatible with a resi- dence in the forests. There was a time set apart for every thing. In the morning she applied herself to her prayers, and concluded with those which the Indians make in common according to their custom, and in the evening she renewed them again, continuing until the night was far advanced. While the Indians were par- taking of their repast to prepare themselves to endure the chase through the whole day, she retired to some secret place to offer up her devotions ; as this was a little before the time when they were accustomed to hear Mass at the Mission. She had fixed a cross in the trunk of a tree which she found by the side of a stream, and this solitary spot was her oratory. There, she placed herself in spirit at the foot of the altar, she united her soul with that of the priest, she prayed her guardian angel to be present for her at that holy sacrifice, and to apply to her its benefits. The rest of the day she spent in laboring with the others of her , 6 -t ^ ■'i^A Jl f { J :?^ .w '■I •■ 1 ^tU'lifc i i ill \m 98 JESUITS IN AMERICA. |i"i. 1 ' fry I " '• 1 ; i. !' !' 'i; • ; |;0;;fr sex, but to banish all frivolous discourse and preserve her union with God, she always introduced some religious conversation, or perhaps invited them to sing hymns or anthems in praise of their Lord. Her repasts were very simple, and often she did not eat till the end of the day. At other times, she secretly mixed ashes with tho food provided for her, to deprive it of everything which might afford pleasure to the taste. This is a self-mortification which she always practised, when she could do so without being seen. This sojourn in the forests was not very agreeable to Catherine, although generally pleasant to the Indian women, because, freed from domestic cares, they pass their time in amusements and feasting. She longed without ceasing for the time to arrive, Fhen they are accustomed to return to the village. The Church, the presence of Jesus Christ in the august Sacrament of the Altar, the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the frequent exhortations, and the other exercises of the Mission, of which she was deprived while engaged in the chase — these were the only objects which inter- ested her. She had no taste for anything else. She therefore formed the determination, that if she lived to return once more to the Mission, she would never again leave it. She arrived there near the time of Passion Week, and for the first time assisted in the ceremonies of those holy days. I shall not stop, my Reverend Father, to describe to you here how deeply she was afiected by a spectacle so touching as that of the sorrows and death of a God for the safety of men. She shed tears almost continually, and formed the resolution to bear, for the rest of her days, in her own body, the Cross of Jesus Christ, From that time she sought all occasions of self-mortification, perhaps to expiate those light faults which she regarded as so many outrages against the Divine Majesty, perhaps to trace in her the image of a God crucified for love of us. The conversa- tions of Anastasia, who often talked with her of the pains of Hell, I CATHERINE, THE IROdUOIS SAINT. 99 W'^^ 'Ml aud the severity which the saints exercised upon themselves, strengthened the desire she had for the austerities of penance. She found herself also animated to this course by an accident which placed her in great danger of losing her life. She was catting a tree in the woods, which fell sooner than she expected ; she had sufficient time, by drawing bach, to shun the body of the tree, which would have crushed her by its fall ; but she was not able to escape from one of the branches, which struck her vio- lently on the head, and threw her senseless to the ground. She shortly afterwards recovered from her swoon, and those around heard her softly ejaculating, " I thank thee, good Jesus, for having succored me in this danger." She did not doubt but that God had preserved her to give her time to expiate her sins by repentance. This she declared to a companion, who felt herself called, like Catherine, to a life of austerity, and with whom she was in so close an intimacy that they communicated to each other the most secret things which took place in their innermost souls. This new association had indeed so much influence on the life of Catherine, that I cannot refrain from speaking of it. Therese (it is thus that she was named) had been baptized by Father Bruyas in the Iroquois country ; but the licentiousness which prevailed among her people, and the evil example she always had before her eyes, caused her shortly to forget the vows of her baptism. Even a sojourn which she made after some time at the Mission, where she had come to live with his family, only produced a partial change in her life. A most strange adven- ture, however, which happened to her, operated at last to her ■ conversion. She had gone with her husband and a young nephew to the cliase, near the river of the Outaouacks. On their way some otlier Indians joined them, and they made a company of eleven persons, that is, four men and four women, with three young persons, Therese was the only Christian. The snow, which this '-n '■ .1 ■ . • t ' I r? m ' ".' i. > *f ■:v| m 'PWh ■4'^ ■■Ma r ■it' ■ *'■ i-.rvli %^ n- "i, I'lii ■if% pi-'-. 100 JESUITS IN AMERICA. year fell very late, prevented them from having any success in hunting, their provisions were in a short time consumed, and they were reduced to eat some skins, which they had brought with them to make moccasons. At length they eat the moccasons themselves, and finally, pressed by hunger, were obliged to sus- tain their lives principally by herbs and the bark of trees. lu the meantime the husband of Therese fell dangerously ill, and the hunters were obliged to halt. Two among them, an AgnU and a lsonno)itona?i,Visked leave of the party to make an excur- sion to some distance in search of game, promising to return at the farthest in ten days. The Ag/iie, indeed, returned at the time appointed, but he came alone, and reported that the Imi. nontouan had perished by famine and misery. They suspected him of having murdered his companion, and then fed upon liig flesh j for, although he declared that he had not found any game, he was nevertheless in full strength and health. A few days afterwards the husband of Therese died, experiencing in his last moments deep regret that he had not received baptism. The remainder of the company then resumed their journey, to attempt to reach the bank of the river and gain the French settlements, After two or three days' march, they became so enfeebled by want of nourishment, that they were not able to advance farther, Desperation then inspired them with a strange resolution, whicli was, to put some of their number to death, that the lives of the rest might be preserved. They, therefore, selected the wife of the Tsonnontouan and her two children, who w>re thus in succes- sion devoured. This spectacle terrified Therese, for she had good reason to fear the same treatment. Then she reflected on the deplorable state in which conscience told her she was; she re- pented bitterly that she had ever entered the forest without having first purified herself by a full confession ; she asked pardon of God for the disorders of her life, and promised to confess as soon as possible and undergo penance. Her prayer was heard, IliE^"'! .1i CATHARINE, THE IROCtUOIS SAINT. 101 '<>*J and after incredible fatigues, she reached the village with four ethers, who alo' e remained of the company. She did, indeed, fulfil one part o'' the promise, for she confessed herself soon after her return, but she was more backward to reform her life and subject herself to the rigors of penance. One day, while she was looking at the new Church they were building at the Sault, after they had removed thither the mis- sion which before had been at the prairie of the Madeleine, she met with Catharine, who was also inspecting it. They saluted each other for the first time, and entering into conversation, Catherine asked her, which portion of the Church was to be set apart for the females. Therese pointed out the place which she thought would be appropriated to them. " Alas !" answered Catherine, with a sigh, " it is not in this material temple that God most loves to dwell. It is within ourselves that He wishes to take up His abode. Our hearts are the Temple which is most agreeable to Him. But, miserable being that I am, how many times have I forced Him to abandon this heart in which He should reign alone! And do I not deserve, that to punish me for my ingratitude, they should forever exclude me from this temple which they are raising to His glory?" The humility of these sentiments deeply touched the heart of Therese. At the same time, she felt herself pressed by remorse of conscience to fulfil what she had promised to the Lord, and she did not doubt but that God had directed to her this holy fe- male, to support her by her counsels and example in the new kind of life she wished to embrace. She therefore opened her heart to Catherine on the holy desires with which God had in- sph-ed her, and insensibly the conversation led them to disclose to each other their most secret thoughts. To converse with greater eas j they went and sat at the foot of a cross which was erected on the banks of the Elver St. Lawrence. This first in- terview, which revealed the uniformity of their sentiments and ->M t.j* ■r- ill ■•'i?. '{^' m M 'Mi nj-m-1 ■ ;-.'!.: lit- m^ /'. ^'' -,•' i.v: ■■; Ki ml'' w!'i- ■ ■^■ 102 JESUITS IN AMERICA. incliuationSj began to strengthen the bonds of a holy friendship which lasted even to the death of Catherine. From this time they were inseparable. They went together to the Church, to the forest, and to their daily labor. They animated each other to the service of God by their religious conversations — they mu- tually communicated their pains and dislikes — they disclosed their faults — they encouraged each other to the practice of aus- tere virtues — and thus were mutually of infinite service in ad- vancing more and more in their views of perfection. It was thus that God prepared Catherine for a new contest which her love of celibacy obliged her to undergo. Interested views inspired her sister with the design of marrying her. She supposed there was not a young man then in the Mission du Sault, who would not be ambitious of the honor of being united to so virtuous a female, and that thus ha viug the whole village from which to make her choice, she would be able to select for her brother-in-law some able hunter who would bring abundance to the cabin. She expected indeed to meet with difficulties on the part of Catherine, for she she was not ignorant of the persecu- tions this generous girl had already suffered, and the constalicj with which she had sustained them, but she persuaded herself that the force of reason would finally vanquish her opposition, She selected therefore a particular day, and after having shown Catherine even more affection than ordinary, she addressed iier with that eloquence which is natural to these Indians, when they are engaged in anything which concerns their interests. "I must confess, my dear sister," said she, with a manner full of sweetness and affability, "you are under great obliga- tions to the Lord for having brought you, as well as ourselves, from our unhappy country, and for having conducted you to the Mission du Sault, where everything is favorable to your piety. If you are rejoiced to be here, I have no less satisfaction at hav ing you with me. You every day indeed increase our pleasmo m CATHERINE, THE IROGIUOIS SAINT. 103 eiidsliip liis time lurcli, to otlier to hey mu- iisclosed e of aus- cc in ad- N contest aterosted Lor. She ission du miitoJ to lage from ct for lier ndaucc to ies on the 3 persccu- coustalicj 3d lierself )pposition, ing slioun resscd her when tk}' I. a manner eat obliga- i ourseh-es, you to the four piety. ion at hav ur pleasure fcy the wisdom of your conduct, which draws upon you general esteem and approbation. There only remains one thing for you to do to complete our happiness, which is to think seriously of establishing yourself by a good and judicious marriage. All the j'ouug girls among us take this course ; you are of an age to act as tlicy do, and you are bound to do so even more particularly than others, either to shun the occasions of sin, or to supply the necessities of life. It is true that it is a source of great plea- sure to us, both to your brother-in-law and myself, to furnish these things for you, but you know that he is in the decline of life, and that we are charge ' with the care of a large family. If you were to be deprived of us, to whom could you have recourse ? Think of these things, Catherine ; provide for yourself a refuge from the evils which accompany poverty ; and determine as soon as possible to prepare to avoid them, while you can do it so easily, and in a way so advantageous both to yourself and to our family." There was nothing which Catherine less expected than a pro- position of this kind, but the kindness and respect she felt for her sister induced her to conceal her pain, and she contented herself with merely answering, that she thanked her for this ad- vice, but the step was of great consequence and she would think of it seriously. It was thus that she warded off the first attack. She immediately came to seek me, to complain bitterly of these importunate solicitations of her sister. As I did not appear to accede entirely to her reasoning, and, for the purpose of proving her, dwelt on those considerations which ought to incline her to marriage, " Ah, my father," said she, " I am not any longer my own. I have given myself entirely to Jesus Christ, and it is not possible for me to change masters. The poverty with which I am threatened gives me no uneasiness. So little is requisite to supply the necessities of this wretched life, that my labor can furnish this, and I can always find some miserable rags to cover ^■" y ^41 . ' f ' I ."^.f ,(:/;:t ^m j^n Hbsf: m w 4 I 104 JESUITS IN AMERICA. » mo." I sent her away, saying, that she should think well on tie subject, for it was one which merited the most serious attea. tion. Scarcely had she returned to the cabin, when her sister, im. patient to bring her ov r to her views, pressed her anew to end her wavering by forming an advantageous settlement. But finding from the reply of Catherine, that it was useless to attempt to change her mind, phe determined to enlist Anastasia in her in- terests, since they both regarded her as their mother. In this she was successful. Anastasia was readily induced to belicTe that Catherine had too hastily formed her resolution, and there- fore employed all that influence which age and virtue gave her over the mind of the young girl, to persuade her that marriage was the only part she ought to take. This measure however, had no greater success than the other. and Anastasia, who had always until that time found so muc!i docility in Catnerine, was extremelj surprised at the little defer- ence she paid to her counsels. She even bitterly reproached her, and threatened to bring her complaints to me. Catherine antici- pated her in this, and after having related the pains they forced her to suffer to induce her to adopt a course so little to her taste. she prayed mo to aid her in consummating the sacrifice she wist ed to make of herself to Jesus Christ, and to provide her a refuge from the opposition she had to undergo from Anastasia and her sister. I praised her design, but at the same time advised her to take yet threo days to deliberate on an affair of such importance, and during that time to offer up extraordinary prayers that slie might be better taught the will of God; after which, if she still persisted in her resolution, I promised her to put an end to tlic importunities of her relatives. She at first acquiesced in what I proposed, but in less than a quarter of an hour came back to seek me. " It is settled," said she, as she came near me ; " it is not a question for deliberation ; my part has long since been taken. No, 3ll on tie •us atteii' sister, m anew to Bnt. But ,0 attempt in her in- . In thii to believe and there' gave her fc marriage the other, I so niucli Lttle defer- »ached her, rine antici- ;hey forced 3 her taste, e she wisli- er a refuge iia and her dsed her to mportancc, rs that she if she still end to the d in what I jack to seek " it i& not a taken. No, CATHERINE, THE IROQUOIS SAINT. 105 1 wy Father, I can have no other spouse but Jesus Christ." I I tlioufht that it would be wrong for me any longer to oppose a I resolution which seemed to me inspired by the Holy Spirit, and ; therefore exhorted her to perseverance, assuring her that I would undertake her defence against those who wished henceforth to disturb her on that subject. This answer restored her ^'»rmer traiKjuillity of mind, and reestablished in her soul that inward peace which she preserved even to the end of her life. i Scarcely had she gone, when Anastasia came to complain in i her turn, that Catherine would not listen to any advice, but fol- ] lowed only her own whims. She was running on in this strain, when I interrupted her by saying that I was acquainted with the ' cause of her dissatisfaction, but was astonished that a Christian f as old as she was, could disapprove of an action which merited i the highest praise, and that if she had faith, she ought to know the value of a state so sublime as that of celibacy, which rendered ; feeble men like to the angels themselves. At these words Anas- I tasia seemed to be in a perfect dream, and as she possessed a ; deeply seated devotion of spirit, she almost immediately began to ■ turn the blame upon herself ; she admired the courage of this vir- .< tuous girl, and at length became the foremost to fortify her iu the holy resolution she had taken. It was thus that Grod turned these different contradictious to be a benefit to his servant. And it also furnished Catherine with a new motive to serve God with greater fervor. She therefore added new practices to the ordi- nary exercises of piety. Feeble as she was, she redoubled her diligence in labor, her watchings, fastings, and other austerities. It was then the end of autumn, when the Indians are accus- tomed to form their parties to go out to hunt during the winter iu the forests. The sojourn which Catherine had already made there, and the pain she had suffered at being deprived of the re- ligious privileges she possessed in the village, had induced her to form the resolution, as I have already mentioned, that she would -■'H ' .1] ' .5 .?;' -|^1^V.::S':I sH w. •I Ii''tr' tm Itf ■ ;• 1; li'i'l"'''' •',;!.' 1; ;'■•'!■ .iMt' !ilil; 1'^: :'.'':: !^^i ■!'H i:!' ^1 i' '■fi J'^ '! * i: -I I 106 JESUITS IN AMERICA. never during her life return there. I thought however that the change of air, and the diet, which is so much better in the forost would be able to restore her health, which was now very much im- paired. It was for this reason that I advised her to follow the family and others who went to the hunting grounds. She an- swered me in that deeply devotional manner which was so naiu- ral to her, "It is true, my Father, that my body is served must luxuriously in the forest, but the soul languishes theio, and is not able to satisfy its hunger. On the contrary, in the village the body suffers ; I am contented that it should be so, but the soul finds its delight in being near to Jesus Christ. Well then, I will willingly abandon this miserable body to hunger and suf- fering, provided that my soul may have its ordinary nourish- ment." She remained therefore during the winter in the village, where she lived only on Indian corn, and was subjected indeed to much suffering. But not content with allowing her body only this in- sipid food, which could scarcely sustain it, she subjected it also to austerities and excessive penances, without taking counsel of any one, persuading herself that while the object was self-mortifica- tion, she was right in giving herself up to everything which could increase her fervor. She was incited to these holy exercises by the noble examples cf self-mortification which she always had be- fore her eyes. The spirit of penance reigned among the Chris- tians at the Sault. Fastings, discipline carried even unto blood, belts lined with points of iron — these wore their most common austerities. And some of them, by these voluntary macerations, prepared themselves, when the time came, to suffer the most fear- ful torments. The war was once more rekindled between the French and the Iroquois, and the latter invited their countrymen who were at the Mission du Sault to return to their own country, where they promised them entire libertv in the exercise of thei: iligic I Iroquoi: away to But the cxcrucia torturiiij to cmbrt One iu constanc did not torture, ■■ the point of his Mi sion of tL of the saT their cou tism, and Thewc fihowed fc that when their zeal which the flict suffc: Bnow whei to the wai to the ri^ where the those who .fliem3elves fas necesi flieir rosai !u;j;-.:i: i^N ;ii^«- and tlie were at ere tbty religion. CATHERINE, THE IROaU^IS SAINT. 107 The refusal w'tli which these oflFcrs were met transported them witii fury, and the Christian Indians who remained at the Sault ncrc immediately declared enemies of their nation. A party of Irof[uois surprised some of them while hunting, and carried them .way to their country, where they were burned by a slow fire. But these noble and faithful men, even in the midst of the most excruciating torments, preached Jesus Christ to those who were torturing them so cruelly, and conjured them, as soon aa possible, to embrace Christianity, to deliver themselves from eternal fires. One in particular among them, named Etienne, signalized his constancy and faith. "When environed by the burning flames, he dill not cease to encourage his wife, who was sufi'ering the same torture, to invoke with him the holy name of Jesus. Being on the point of expiring, he rallied all his strength, and in imitation of bis Master, prayed the Lord with a loud voice for the conver- Bion of those who had treated him with such inhumanity. Many of the savages, touched by a spectacle so new to them, abandoned tlieir country and came to the Mission du Sault, to ask for bap- tism, and live there in accordance with the laws of the Gospel. The women were not behind their husbands in the ardor they ehowcd for a life of penance. They even went to such extremes, that when it came to our knowledge, we were obliged to moderate their zeal. Besides the ordinary instruments of mortification which they employed, they had a thousand new inventions to in- flict suffering upon themselves. Some placed themselves in the BDOw when the cold was most severe ; others stripped themselves to the waist in retired places, and remained a long time exposed to the rigor of the season, on the banks of a frozen river, and where the wind was blowing with violence. There were even ihose who, after having broken the ice in the ponds, plunged fliemoelves in up to the neck, and remained there as long as it fas necessary for them to recite many times the ten beads of ilieir rosary. One of them did this three nights in succession ; ■>.. "i :i ( lit.*' .j|,,.r.,;' li '.it !■■>''■, ^ '■,! *i ' -S''. ' ' ill 'C"!''! ""'~ ' J • '1' mU !1^ '•,■: 108 JESUITS IN AMERICA. and it was tho cause of so violent a fever, that it was thought she would have died of it. Another one surprised mo extremely h her simplicity. I learned that, not content with having herself used this mortification, she had also plunged her dauglitor, but three years old, into the frozen river, from which she drew lier out half dead. When I sharply teproached her indiscretion, she answered me with a surprising naivete, that she did not thin!; she was doing anything wrong, but that knowing her daughter would one day certainly oflfend the Lord, she had wished to ia. pose on her in advance the pain which her sin merited. Although those who inflicted these mortifications on themselves were particular to conceal them from the knowledge of the pul> lie, yet Catherine, who had a mind quick and penetrathig, di] not fail from various appearances to conjecture that which thej held so secret, and as she studied every means to testify mort and more her love to Jesus Christ, she applied herself to exam' ine everything that was done pleasing to the Lord, that sk might herself immediately put it in practice. It was for tlii: reason that while passing some days at Montreal, where for tk first time she saw the nuns, she was so charmed with their mo: esty and devotion, that she informed herself most thorouglil' with regard to the manner in which these holy sisters lived, ani the virtues which they practiced. Having learned that tk were Christian virgins, who were consecrated to God by a vow perpetual continence, she gave me no peace until I had granteil her permission to make the same sacrifice of herself, not l]\ simple resolution to guard her virginity, such as she had alreaJj] made, but by an irrevocable engagement which obliged her til belong to God without any recall. I would not, however, gbj my consent to this step until I had well proved her, and ba: anew convinced that it was the spirit of God acting in this exc( lent girl, which had thus inspired her with a design of wK there had never been an example among the Indians. §.,■•■-' CATHERINE, THE HlOaUOIS SAIN'i. 100 themselves »f the puV ratuig, di'l which thej estify moK If to cxaii' d, that k 7as for tki: lere for tt their wii- thorough; :b lived, aii that tk hy a vow'i had grantei' jclf, not bjil had alrea^i' )liged her t however, f- icr, and m in this esft'. sign of "M' IS. Jj'or this great event she chose the day ou which wo celebrate the Festival of the Annunciation of the most holy Virgin. The momcut after she had received our Lord in the holy Communion, she pronounced with admirable fervor the vow she had made of iicrpotual virginity. She then addressed the Holy Virgin, for whom she had a most tender devotion, praying her to present to ! her son the oblation of herself which she had just made ; after , which she passed some hours at the foot of the altar in huly med- V itatiou and in perfect union with Glod. From that time Catherine seemed to be entirely divorced from < this world, and she aspired continually to Heaven, where she had I fixed all her desires. She seemed even to taste in anticipation Ithe sweetness of that heavenly state ; but her body was not suf- ficiently strong to sustain the weight of her austerities, and the lonstant effort of her spirit to maintain itself in the presence of iGod. She was at length seized with a violent illness, from which 'Jfflhe never entirely recovered. There always remained an affec- ition of the stomach, accompanied by frequent vomiting, and a IbIow fever, which undermined her constitution by degrees, and Ihrew her into a weakness which insensibly wasted her away. It as, however, evident that her soul acquired new strength in pro- lortion as her body decayed. The nearer she approached the rrination of her career, the more clearly she shone forth in all ose virtues which she had practiced with so much edification. ut I need not stop here to particularize them to you, except to lention a few of those which made the most impression and ;^ere the source and spring of all the others. She had a most tender love for God. Her only pleasure leemed to be, to keep herself in contemplation in his presence, to meditate on His majesty and mercy, to sing His praises, and Ooutinually to desire new ways of pleasing Him. It was princi- |ftlly to prevent distraction from other thoughts that she so often Withdrew into solitude. Anastasia and Therese were the only ;:i»l . ''Til- % . M * i * ' ,,1. - 'r 'i ■f> -I, ■1. ."I 'fo^'ii^ 3 ■!••', .■ i.t ► !i..::,': 110 JESUITS IN AMERICA. two Cliristians with whom who wished much to associate, })ccau«; thoy talked most of (Jod, and their coiiversations brcatlitJ i^ thing but divine love. From thence arose the peculiar devotion she had for the Hfjl: JOuc'hiirist and the Passion of our Saviour. These hvo niystti of the love of the same God, concealed under the veil of tln' 1 cliai'ist and Ilis dying on the cross, ceaselessly occupiod !.t;| f^pirit, and kindled in her heart the purest flames of love. Kwr day slie was seen to pass whole hours at the foot of the altar, in liioveable as if tran.sndrted beyond herself Iler eyes often ei plained the sentiments of her breast by the abundance of tear'] she shed, and in these tears she found so great delight that Ai was, as it were, insensible to the most severe cold of wintirl Often seeing her benumbed with cold, I have sent her to m cabin to warm herself; she obeyed immediately, but the inoimi after returned to the Church, and continued there in long cnii]| munion with Jesus Christ. To keep alive her devotion for the mystery of our Saviour | Passion, and to have it always present to her mind, she caiii on her breast a little crucifix which I had given her. She ufc; kissed it with feelings of the most tender compassion for ih .>i:| fering Jesus, and with the most vivid remembrance of the Im fits of our redemption. One day wishing particularly to liooj Jesus Christ in this double mystery of His love, after having irl ceived the Holy Communion, she made a perpetual oblation ' her soul to Jesus in the Eucharist, and of her body to Jcsiis: tached to the cross ; and thenceforth, she was ingenious to i: agine every day new ways of afflicting and crucifying her M During the winter, while she was in the forest with her cor^ panions, she would follow them at a distance, taking ofi'hersli and walking with her naked feet over the ice and snow. Had heard Anastasia say, that of all torments that of fire was the nil frightful, and that the constancy of the martyrs who had suffertj CATIIEIUNE, THE IROCIUOIS SAINT. Ill ^1 this torture would bo a great merit with the Lord, the following uiiflit she burned her feet and limbs with a hut brand, very mueh ill the f'; ft; i'i; :H' :i!'' • '!■' i T^iJ ¥-ir[ 114 JESUITS IN AMERICA. of her age, having filled the Mission with the odor of her sanctity and the character of holiness which she left behind her. Her countenance, which had been extremely attenuated by the mala- dies and constant austerities, appeared so changed and pleasant some moments after her death, that the Indians who were pres cnt were not able to restrain the expression of their astonish- ment, and declared, that a beam of that glory she had gone to possess was even reflected back on her body. Two Frenchmen who had come from the prairie of the Madeleine to assist in the services of Thursday morning, seeing her extended on her mat with her countenance so fresh and sweet, said one to the other, " See how peaceably that young female sleeps !" But they were very much surprised when they learned a moment after, that \, was the body of Catherine who had just expired. They iiamedi- ately retraced their steps, and casting themselves on their knees at her feet, recommended themselves to her prayers. They eveu wished to give a public evidence of the veneration they had for the deceased, by immediately assisting to make the coffin whicli was to enclose those holy relics. I make use of this expression, my Reverend Father, with tlie greater confidence, because God did not delay to honor the memory of this virtuous girl by an infinite number of miraculous cure?, which took place after her death, and which still continue to take place daily through her intercession. This is a fact well known, not only to the Indians, but also to the French at (^lichec and Montreal, who often make pilgrimages to her tomb to fulfil their vows, or to return thanks for favors which she has obtained for them in Heaven. I could here relate to you a great niimher of these miraculous cures, which have been attested by individ- uals the most enlightened, and whose probity is above suspicion; but I will content myself with making you acquainted with tlie testimony of two persons remarkable for virtue and merit, wlio having themselves proved the power of this sainted female witli 0':: ■ml ,' .14 t ^-"ip CATHERINE, THE IROaUOIS SAINT. 115 God, felt they were bound to leave a public monument for pos- terity, to satisfy at the same time their piety and their gratitude. The first testimonial is that of M. de la Colombiere, Canon of the Cathedral of Quebec, Grand- Vicar of the Diocese. He ex- presses himself in these terms : " Having been ill at Quebec during the past year, from the " month of January even to the month of June, of a slow fever, " against which all remedies had been tried in vain, and of a " diarrhoea, which even ipecacuana could not cure, it was thought " v/ell that I should record a vow, in case it should please God to " relieve me of these two maladies, to make a pilgrimage to the " Mission of St. Francis Xavier, to pray at the tomb of Cathe- '• rine Tegahkouita. On the very same day the fever ceased, and " the diarrhoea having become better, I embarked some days af- " terwards to fulfil my vow. Scarcely had I accomplished one " third of my journey, when I found myself perfectly cured. As " my health is something so very useless that I should not have " dared to ask for it, if I had not felt myself obliged to do so by " the deference which I ought to have for the servants of the " Lord, it is impossible reasonably to withhold the belief, that '• God in according to me this grace, had no other view than to " make known the credit which this excellent maiden had with " Him. For myself I should fear that I was unjustly with- " holding the truth, and refusing to the Missions of Canada " the glory which is due to them, if I did not testify as I have " now done, that I am a debtor for my cure to this Iroquois vir- " gin. It is for this reason that I have given the present attes- " tation with every sentiment of gratitude of which I am capa- •' ble, to increase, as far as is in my power, the confidence which " is felt in my benefactress, but still more to excite the desire to "to imitate her virtues. Given at Villemarie, the 14th of Sep- "tember, 1696. " J. de la Colombiere, P. J., " Canon of the Cathedral of Quebec." , 111 1*1 If AM 'i>: ( ,'. f» I; 1. ' . 116 JESUITS IN AMERICA. il:iP|f' W «:■;'. - ■ ; ,i ! ' . : : '<-!.; The second testimonial is from M. du Luth, Captain in the Marine Corps, and Commander of Fort Frontinac. It is thus that he speaks : " Ij the subscriber, certify to all whom it may concern, that " having been tormented by the gout for the space of twenty- " three years, and with such severe pains that it gave me no rest " for the space of three months at a time, I addressed myself to " Catherine Tegahkouita, an Iroquois virgin, deceased at the " Sault Saint Louis in the reputation of sanctity, and I promised " her to visit her tomb, if God should give me health through her " intercession. I have been so perfectly cured, at the end of one " novena* which I made in her honor, that after five months I " have not perceived the slightest touch of my gout. Given at " Fort Frontinac, this 15th of August, 1696. " J. DU Luth, " Capt. of the Marine Corps, Commander of Fort Frontinac," I have thought that a narrative of the virtues of this holy fe- male, born thus in the midst of heathenism and among savages, would serve to edify those who having been born in the bosom of Christianity, have also every possible aid in raising themselves to the height of holiness. I have the honor to be, &c. [* A novena is a course of devotional services extending through nine days.] .A::.i4<'f m. u M It II: '* 't ■ .!' ■•;.>^; m '< • 'ii THE IROQUOIS MARTYRS. 1688—1693. 'i,t iiiiiiii.i LETTER V. FROM FATHER CHOLLONFC, MISSIONARY OF THE SOCIETY OP JESUS IN NEW FRANCE, TO FATHER JEAN-BAPTISTE DU HALDE OF THE SAME SOCIETY. MY REVEREND FATHER, The Peace of our Lord be with you : I HAVE learned with much consolation that you have been edified in France by the account which I sent of the virtues of a young Iroquois virgin, who died here in the odor of sanctity, and whom we regard as the Protectress of this colony. It is the mission of St. "Francis Xavier du Sault which trained her to Christianity, and the impressions which such examples have left there still remain, and will remain for a long time, as we hope, through the mercy of God. Long before it occurred, she had predicted the glorious death of some Christians of this Mission, and we have reason to believe that she is the one who, from the Heaven where she is placed, has sustained the courage of these generous devoted men, who have signalized their constancy and faith in the midst of the most frightful sufferings. I will re- late to you, i\ orefore, in a few words, the history of these fer- vent neophytes, for I am persuaded that you will be touched by it. The settlements of the Iroquois had been gradually depopu- lated by the desertion of many families, who took refuge in the Mission du Sault, for the purpose of embracing Christianity there. Etienne te Ganonakoa was of this number. He came to reside ■i-^'' ■•■iffwr M i V'' ii ':K !• :i':'- ■, «!. m. • 120 JESUITS IN AMERICA. there with his wife, a sister-in-law, and six children. He was then about thirty-five years of age ; his natural disposition had nothing in it that was barbarous, and the stability of his marriage in a country where the most perfect license reigns, and where they easily change their wives, was one evidence of the innocenc^^ of the life which he had led. All the new comers urgently desired baptism, and it was granted them after the customary probation and instructions. We were immediately edified in the village by the union which evidently existed in this family, and the care with which they honored God. Etienne watched the education of his children with a zeal worthy of a missionary. Every day, both morning and evening, he sent them to prayers, and to the instructions which are provided for those of that age. Nor did he fail himself to set them an example, by the constancy of his attendance at all the exercises of the Mission, and by his frequent participation in the Sacraments. It was by such a course of Christian conduct that he prepared himself to triumph over the enemies of religion, and to defend his faith in the midst of the most cruel torments. The Iroquois had used every means to induce those of their countrymen who were at the Sault to return to their native land. But their prayers and presents having been found useless, they resorted to menaces, and signified to them, that if they persisted in their refusal, they should no longer regard them as relatives or friends, but their hate become irreconcilable, and they would treat them as declared enemies. The war which was then existing between the French and Iroquois furnished them with a pretext for spending their rage on those of their countrymen who, after having thus deserted them, fell into their hands. It was at this time, in the month of August, 1690, that Etienne set out for the purpose of hunting, in the autumn, accompanied by his wife and another Indian of the Sault. In the following month of September, these three neo -phytes were surprised in the woods by a party of the enemy, |i:i ■■■ THE IROaUOIS MARTYRS. 121 consisting of fourteen Goiogoms, who seized them, bound them, and carried them away prisoners into their country. As soon as Etienno saw himself at the mercy of the Goiogoens^ lie did not for a moment doubt but that ho would shortly be de- livered up to a most cruel death. He expressed himself thus to lii^j wife, and recommended to her, above all things, to remaili B^-^nxifast to her faith, and in case she should ever be permitted to return to the Sault, to bring up her children in the fear of God. During the whole journey he did not cease exhorting her to con- stancy, and endeavoring to fortify her against the dangers to which she was about to be exposed among those of her own nation. The three captives were conducted, not to Goiogoen, where it was most natural that they should carry them, but to Omwncagu^. God determined, it seemed, that the steadfastness and constancy of Eticnne should shine forth in a place, which was at that time celebrated for the crowds of savages who were assembled about it, and who, while there, plunged themselves in the most infamous debaucheries. Although it is their custom to await the arrival of tlieir captives at the entrance of the village, yet the joy they felt at having some of the inhabitants of the Sault in their power, induced them to go forth a great distance fro^n their setttlement to meet their prey. They had arrayed themselves in their finest dresses as for a day of triumph — they were armed with knives and hatchets and clubs, and anything on which they could lay their hands, while fury was painted on their countenances. As soon as they joined the captives, one of the Indians came up to Etienne. " My brother," said he, " your end has come. It is not we who put you to death, but you sealed your own fate when jou left us to live among the Christian dogs." " It is true," an- swered Etienne, " that I am a Christian, but it is no less true that I glory in being one. Inflict on me what you please, for I fear neither your outrages nor torments. I willingly give up my life for that God who has shed all his blood for me." 7 •i!:i ' 4 ' \«i •■>"■! .' ■•' 1 '..., t\ •*!■ 122 JESUITS IN AMERICA. I :i Scarcely had ho uttered these words, when they furiously threw themselves upon him, and cut him cruelly on his arms, Lb thighs, and over his whole body, which in an instant they covcrcl with blood. They cut off several of his fingers, and tore out hi.< nails. Then, one of the troop cried out to him, " pray to God ' " Yes, I will pray to him," said Etienno ; and raising his bound hands, he made as far as he was able the sign of the cross, at the same time pronouncing with a loud voice, in their language, these words, " In the name of the Father," &c. Immediately tlioy cut off half his fingers which remained, and cried to him a second time, "pray to God now." Etienne made anew the sign of tlie cross, and the instant that he did so, they cut oflF all his fingers down to the palm of his hand. Then a third time they invited him to pray to God, insulting him, and pouring out against Lini all the injuries which their rage could dictate. As this generous neophyte commenced the attempt to make the sign of the cross with the palm of his hand, they cut it off entirely. Not content with these first sallies of fury, they gashed his flesh on all tbe places which ho had marked with the sign of the cross, that is to say, on his forehead, on his stomach, and from one shoulder to the other, as if to efface those august marks of religion, which he had impressed there. After this bloody prelude, they conducted the prisoners to the village. They at first bound Etienne before a large fire which they had kindled there, and in which they had heated some stones red-hot. These stones they placed between his thighs, and pressed them violently against each other. They then or- dered him to chant after the Iroquois manner, and when he refused to do so, and, on the contrary, repeated in a loud voice the prayers he was accustomed to recite every day, one of the furious savages about him seized a burning brand, and struck him forcibly on the mouth ; then, without giving him time to breathe, they bound liim to the stake. THE moauois martyrs. 123 When tlic neophyte found lum.sclf in the midst of the red-hot irons and burning brands, far from showing any fear, he east a triUi4uil look upon all the foroeious brutes who surrounded him, and npoko to them thus : " Satisfy yourselves, my brethren, with the barbarous pleasure you cxperienee in burning me ; do not spare me, for my sins merit much more of suffering than you can procure me ; the more you torment me, the more you augment the recompense wliich is prepared for me in Heaven." These words served only to inflame their fury. The savages all with a kind of emulation, seized the burning brands and red- hot irons, with which they slowly burned all the body of Etienne. The courageous neophyte suffered all these torments without allowing a single sigh to escape him. He seemed to be perfectly tranquil, his eyes being raised to heaven, whither his soul was drawn in continual prayer. At length, when he perceived his strength failing, he requested a cessation for a few moments, and then reviving all his fervor, he uttered his last prayer. He com- mended his soul to Jesus Christ, and prayed him to pardon his death to those who had treated him with so much inhumanity. At last, after new torments suffered with the same constancy, he gave up his soul to his Creator, triumphing, by his courage, over all the cruelty of the Iroquois. They granted her life to his wife, as he had predicted to her. She remained sometime longer a prisoner in their country, but without either entreaties or threats being able to vanquish her faith. Having returned to Agni^', which was her native place, she remained there until her son came to seek her, and conducted her back to the Sault. With regard to the Indian who was taken at the same time with Etienne, he escaped with the loss of some of his fingers which were cut off, and a deep cut which he received on his leg. He was carried afterwards to Goiogocns, where they granted him bis life. They used every effort to induce him to marry there iU ■ ^■'li Hi- 1 M :i:' THE IROaUOIS MARTYRS. 127 itants of Montreal, and the simple account of what he had seen, drew tears from every one. They were never tired of hearing liirn speak of a courage which seemed so wonderful. Wlien the Iroquois have amused themselves a sufficient length of time with burning their prisoners by a slow process, they cut tliem round the head, take off their scalp, cover the crown of the head with hot ashes, and take them down from the stake. After which they take a new pleasure in making them seen, pursuing them with terrific shouts, and beating them unmercifully with stoues. They adopted this plan with Frangoise. M. de Saint- Michel says that the spectacle made him shudder ; but a mo- ment afterwards he was excited even to tears, when he saw this virtuous neophyte throw herself on her knees, and raising her eyes to heaven offer to God in sacrifice the last breath of life which remained. She was immediately overwhelmed with a show- er of stones which the Iroquois cast at her, and died, as she had lived, in the exercise of prayer, and in union with our Lord. In the following year a third victim of the Mission du Sault was sacrificed to the fury of the Iroquois. Her sex, her extreme youth, and the excess of torment which they caused her to suffer, rendered her constancy most memorable. She was named Mar- guerite Garongouas^ twenty-four years of age, a native of Onnon- tague, and had received Baptism at the age of thirteen. She was married shortly afterwards, and God blessed her marriage in giving her four children, whom she brought up with great care in the precepts of religion. The youngest was yet at the breast, and she was carrying it in her arms at the time of her capture. It was in the autumn of the year 1693, that having gone to visit her field at a quarter of a league from the fort, she fell into the hands of two savages of 0/montagu^, who were from her own country, and it is even probable that they were her relatives. The joy which had been felt at Otinonlague at the capture of the first two Christians of the Sault, led these savages to believe that : :k<^ '■'in I '..- ■*•' ^'l\.\ ■ ■ j'-ij*!! ■i ..rililS ft , ry!- 1;" il I !, ;:t W:''-'. -■: ■•;i' ■' ;^^r .■'!'. V''' k' '' ■ i 128 JESUITS IN AMERICA. this new capture would win for them the greatest applause. They therefore carried tier with all speed to Onmntague. At the first news of her arrival, all the Indians poured out of the village, and went to await the prisoner on an eminence which it was necessary for her to pass. A new fury seemed to possess their minds. As soon as Marguerite came in sight, she was received with frightful cries, and when she reached the emi- nence, she saw herself surrounded by all the savages, to the num- ber of more than four hundred. They first snatched her in- fant from her, then tore ofif her clothes, and at last cast them- selves upon her pell-mell, and began cutting her with their knives, until her whole body seemed to be but one wound. One of our Frenchmen who was a witness of this terrible spectacle, attributed it to a kind of miracle, that she did not expire on the spot. Marguerite saw him, and calling him by name, exclaimed, " Alas ! you see my destiny, that only a few moments more of life remain to me. God be thanked however, I" do not at all shrink from death, however cruel may be the form in which it awaits me. My sins merit even greater pains. Pray the Lord that He will pardon them to me, and give me strength to suffer." She spoke this with a loud voice, and in their language. One cannot be sufficiently astonished, that in the sad state to which she was reduced, she had so much spirit remaining. After a little while they conducted her to the cabin of a French woman, an inhabitant of Montreal, who was also a pri- soner. She availed herself of the opportunity to encourage Marguerite, and to exhort her to suffer with constancy these short-lived pains, in view of the eternal recompense by which they would be followed. Marguerite thanked her for her chari- table counsels, and repeated to her what she had already said, that she had no fears of death, but would meet it with good courage. She added also, that since her baptism she had prayed to God for grace to suffer for his love, and that seeing her body THE IROQUOIS MARTYRS. 129 go mangled, she could not doubt but that God had fiivorably heard her prayer. She was therefore contented to die, and wished no evil to her relatives or countrymen who were about to be her executioners, but on the contrary, she prayed God to pardon their crime, and give them grace to be converted to the faith. It is indeed a remarkable fact, that the three neo- phytes of whom I have spoken, all prayed in the hour of death for the salvation of those who were treating them so cruelly ; and this is a most tangible proof of the spirit of charity which reigned at the Mission du Sault. These two captives were conversing on eternal truths, and the happiness of the saints in Heaven, when a party of twenty sav- ages came to seek Marguerite, to conduct her to the place where she was to be burned. They paid no regard to her youth, nor her sex, nor her country, nor the advantage she possessed in be- ing the daughter of one of the most distinguished men of the village, one who held the rank of chief among them, and in whose name all the affairs of the nation were carried on. These things would certainly have saved the life of any one else but a Christian of the Mission du Sault. Marguerite was then bound to the stake, where they burned her over her whole body with a cruelty which it is not easy to describe. She suffered this long and severe torture without showing the least sign of sorrow. They only heard her invoke the holy names of Jesus, of Mary, and of Joseph, and pray them to sustain her in this rude conflict, even until her sacrifice was completed. From time to time she asked for a little water, but after some reflection, she prayed them to refuse it to her, even when she might ask for it. " My Saviour," said she, " was thirsty while dying for me upon the Cross. Is it not right there- fore, that I should suffer the same inconvenience ?" The Iro- quois tormented her from noon even to sunset. In tlie impa- tience they felt to see her draw her last breath, before the night ^i.' >a :* . , . 1 ' ■'i:Jt ' ■ 1 130 JESUITS IN AMERICA. III?,;'':';, !,,? !'• 'Mi'.' ■ should oblige them to retire, they unbound her from the stake, took oflf her scalp, covered her head with the hot cinders, and or- dered her to run. She on the contrary, threw herself on her knees, and raising her eyes and hands to Heaven, commended her soul to the Lord. The barbarians then struck her on tLe head many blows of a club without her discontinuing her prayer, until at last one of them, crying out, " Is it not possible for this Christian dog to die?" took a new knife and thrust it into the lower part of her stomach. The knife, although struck forward with great swiftness, snapped off to the entire astonishment of the savages, and the pieces fell at her feet. Another then took the stake itself to which she had been bound, and struck her violently on the head. As she still gave some signs of life, they heaped on the fire a pile of dry wood wliich happened to be in that place, and then cast her body on it, where it was shortly consumed. It is from thence that Marguerite went without doubt to receive in Heaven the recompense which was merited by a sainted life ter- minated by so precious a death. It was natural that they should grant its life to her child. But an Iroquois to whom it had been given, wished to avenge himself on it for an affront which he thought he had received from the French. Three days after the death of Marguerite; they were surprised at hearing, at the beginning of the night, the cry of death. At this cry, all the savages sallied forth from their cabins to repair to the place from which it proceeded, The inhabitant of Montreal, of whom I have spoken, ran thitlier with the rest. There they found a fire burning, and the infant ready to be cast into it. The savages could not help being soft- ened at this spectacle ; but this was still more the case, when the infant, who was but a year old, raising its little hands to heaven, with a sweet smile, called three times on its mother, showing by its gesture that it wished to embrace her. The inhabitant of Montreal did not doubt but that its mother had appeared to it, THE IROaUOIS MARTYRS. 131 It is at least probable, that she had asked from God that her child should be reunited to her before long, that it might be pro- served from the licentious training it would have, which would withdraw it as far as possible from Christianity. Although, as it happened, the infant was not abandoned to the jflames, for one of the most considerable men of the village delivered it from tliciii ; yet it was only to devote it to a death scarcely less cruel. He took it by the feet, and raising it in the air, dashed its head against a stone. I cannot forbear, my Reverend Father, speaking to you once more of a fourth neophyte of this Mission, who, although he escaped the fire which was prepared for him, nevertheless had tlie happiness of giving his life rather than be exposed to the danger of losing his faith. It was a young Aguie, named Ilaonhouentsiontaoud. He was captured by a party of the Ag- nies^ who carried him away as a slave into their own country. As he had many relations, they granted him his life, and gave him to those who belonged to the same family. These were urgent in their solicitations that he should live according to the customs of the nation ; that is to say, indulge in all the disorders of a licentious life. Etienne, far from listening to them, gave in reply the truths of salvation, which he explained with much force and unction, and ceaselessly exhorted them to go with him to the Mission du Sault, there to embrace Christianity. But he spoke to people born and educated in vice, the habit of which was too sweet to enable them to quit it. Thus, the example and the exhortations of the neophyte served no other purpose than to render them more guilty in the sight of God. As it seemed that his residence at Agnie was of no advantage to his relatives, and that it might be even dangerous to his own salvation, he adopted the resolution to return to the Sault. He disclosed his intention to those around him, and they consented to it the more willingly, because they saw that they would thus •'■a 'i3 M. ■iJfc irr' iiw.':' ':■':" HjlWMil ™p|;,M,i.,&^^,.., 132 JESUITS IN AMERICA. be delivered from an importunate censor, who was continually condemning the vices of the nation. He therefore a second time quitted his country and his family, for the sake of preserving that faith which was more dear to him than everything else. Scarcely, however, had he set out on his journey, when the report of his departure spread through the wigwams. It was particularly mentioned in one, in which some intoxicated young men were at that time actually engaged in a debauch. TLey were enraged against Etienne, and after pouring out their abuse against him, concluded that it would not do to suffer him thus to prefer the Christian settlement to his own country, that this was an affront which reflected on the whole nation, and that they were bound to constrain the Christian dog to return to the vil- lage, or cut off his head, for the purpose of intimidating those who might be tempted to follow his example. Three of them, therefore, immediately armed themselves with hatchets, and ran after Jltienne. Thoy shortly came up with him, and holding a hatchet raised over his head, said roughly, " Retrace your steps and follow us. It will be your death to resist, for we have orders from the Sachems to cut off your Lead," Etienne answered them with his usual sweetness, that they were masters of his life, but that he preferred losing that to risking his faith and salvation in their village ; that he was, therefore, going to the Mission du Sault, where he was resolved to live and die, As he saw that after this particular declaraiion of his senti- ments, these brutes would undoubtedly destroy him, he requested them to give him a few moments in which to pray to God, They had this condescension, intoxicated as they were, and Etienne threw himself on his knee^, and tranquilly offered up his prayer, in which he thanked God for the grace which had been given hiiii to die a Christian. He prayed, too, for his heathen relatives, and in particular for his murderers, who, at that very moment raised their hatchets and split open his head. THE IROaUOIS MARTYRS. 133 We were iufonncd of the particulars of this death, so noble and Christiau, by some Agnics, who came shortly after to fix their rosiJouce at the Mission du Sault. I will finish this letter by the history of another Christian of this Mission, whose life has been a model of patience and piety. It was the earliest companion of Catherine Tegahkoidta^ and the most faithful imitator of her virtues. Jeanne Gouastahm, for such was her name, was of the nation of the Ounciout. She was married to a young Agaie at the Mission of Notre-Dame de Lorcttc, and her natural sweetness of character and rare virtue ou^bt to have attracted to her all the tenderness of her husband. But the young man abandoned himself to the customary vices of his nation, that is to say, to intemperance and licentiousness, and his dissoluteness was to the neophyte a constant source of bad treatment. He sometime ofterwards left the village of Lorette, and became a wanderer and a vagabond. His virtuous wife, how- ever, was not willing to leave him. She followed him wherever he went, in the hope of at last inducing him to return to himself and thus gaining him to Jesus Christ ; she endured his debauch- eries and brutalities with unalterable patience ; she even practised frequent austerities in secret,, to obtain his conversion from God. The unhappy man took it into his head to come to the Sault, where he had relatives, and she accompanied him thither, and exhibited towards him those attentions and acts of kindness which should have been able to soften the hardest heart. At last, after many changes, having plunged deeply into licentious- ness and dissoluteness, he entirely renounced his faith, and re- turned to the Agnies. This was the only place to which the neophyte refused to follow him. She had, however, the prudence to go and live at Lorette, with the relatives of her unworthy hus- hand, hoping that this last proof of complaisance would induce hliu to abandon his debauchertes. But she had not passed a year there, when she learned that this apostate had been killed by ¥ it ', ♦. mm I ■•■«■ 11 w , ^^ : ■■((: "i.lO ■ iiil 'm .«• J- ■^■■\ ill m . 134 JESUITS IN AMERICA. U'm^rr ,,;.!: r:)-::,,, J ■ ^^ pi;', ;,i mM'- '' some savages, whose wigwam he had attacked when he had gone out after a debauch which had been extended to the last excess A death so bad touched her deeply. Although she was still in the flower of her age, she forever renounced all thoughts of the marriage state, and determined to pass the rest of her days near the tomb of Catherine. There she lived as a Christian widow, striving to sanctify herself by the practice of all virtues, and by continual austerities. And there she shortly afterwards died, k the odor of sanctity. One thing only gave her pain in her last illness. She was leaving behind her two children, still iu tkir tender age, the one not having yet reached its sixth year, nor tlie other its fourth, and she feared lest, in process of time, tliej should be corrupted, and follow in the steps of their unhappy father. She had, therefore, recourse to our Lord with that feivur and confidence which animated all her prayers, and she asked uf him the favor, that the children should not be separated from their mother. Her prayer was favorably heard, and althougli tlie two children were then in perfect health, the one became ill im. mediately, and died before the mother, while the other followed eight days after her own departure. I should continue indefinitely, my Reverend Father, if I were to speak again of many other neophytes, whose virtue and faitii were equally tried. What, however, I have already written will suffice to give some. idea of the fervor which reigns in the Mission uf St. Francis Xavier du Sault. His Grace the Bishop of Quebec, who visited our neophytes, has given his public testimony to their virtue. It is thus that this high Prelate speaks in a relation which he gave of the state of New France, and which was pul> lished in 1688 : — " The ordinary life of all these Christians k " nothing about it which is common, and one might take it for a " veritable monastery. As they have abandoned all the advau' " tages of their own country, for the sole reason that they miglit " secure their salvation near the French, we can there see every' THE IROQUOIS MARTYRS. 133 :'■ tiling arranged for the practice of the most perfect freedom from "worldly passions, and they presciTC among themselves so admi- (. jai^le a method to promote their holiness, that it would be dif- «ficult to add anything else." I hope, my Reverend Father, that your zeal will often lead you to pray to the God of mercy for these new converts, to the end that He would preserve them in thp^ state of fervor in which He has placed them by His grace. With every sentiment of respect, m m I. , ; i& m El MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION TO DESTROY FORT GEORGE. 1767. ■'4' • ■•*• ■ ■;vM I I, ■ y I '^|i ^m^ .'.>,sa i m '*''W' •!"' iHV;'!''' f-^-.-.t ^1 '" 1A1 -s- !l|-^i' Site' iil-il Chd were miuj theii pare LETTER VI. FROM FATHER ROtJBAUD, MISSIONARY AMONG THE ABNAKIS. At St. Francis, the Slst of October, 1757. On the twelfth of July I left St. Francis, the principal village of the Abnakis mission, to return to Montreal. The object of my voyage was merely to conduct to M. the Marquis de Vau- (ireuil, a deputation of twenty Abnakis destined to accompany Fatlier Virot, who has gone to attempt the foundation of a new mission among the Loups at Oyo, or the beautiful river. The part which I was able to act in this glorious enterprise, the events which took place, and the difficulties necessary to be surmounted, would furnish in succession interesting materials for new letters. But it is right to expect, that the blessings poured out should have crowned the efforts we have made to bear the light of our faith to the people who seem so well disposed to receive it. Arrived at Montreal, distant one and a half day's journey from my mission, I thought myself at the end of my travels ; but Provitlence had ordered otherwise. They were preparing an expedition against the enemy, and relying on the disposition of the Indian nation, they anticipated from it great success. It was necessary that the Abnakis should be of the party, and as all the Christian Indians were accompanied by their missionaries, who were eager to render them the appropriate assistance of their ministry, the Abnakis might be sure that I would not abandon them in circumstances so critical. I accordingly at once pre- pared to depart. My equipments were presently ready — one M « ■ h if, .•4 : 'tf' ;^r?i ■ -li ■ ^\' '•"•■■''iil ■ ■ \ V ' ' ' . ■ ■■ 1 ■ ,. 140 JESUITS IN AMERICA. shrine, and the holy oil for Extreme Unction, these were all- trusting for everything else to that Providence which had never forsaken me. I embarked two days afterwards on the great river St. Lawrence, in company with two priests of St. Sulpice. The one was M. Picquet, Missionary to the Iroquois at Galette, and the other, M. Mathavet, Missionary to the Nipistingues at tlie Lake of the Two Mountains. My Abnakis were encamped at Saint- Jean, one of the forts of the Colony, distant one day's jour- ney from Montreal. My coming surprised them ; they had not anticipated it. Scarcely had they perceived me, when they made the forests and the neighboring mountains echo back the news of my arrival. Even the children shared in these feeling.s, (for among the Indians, each one is a warrior as soon as he can carry a gun,) and gave me proofs of their satisfaction. Nemittanmis- tena, Nemittangoustciia^ they cried in their language ; Ourioum eri namihoureg. That is to say, " Our Father, our father, how much are we obliged for this, that you thus procure us the plea- sure of seeing you.'' Thanking them in a few words for the good will which they had testified towards me, I did not delay to discharge in their presence the appropriate duties of my ministry, Scarcely had I pitched my tent when I hastened to rejoin them. Conducting them to the foot of a large Cross erected on the bank of the river, with a loud voice I offeied up for them the Evening Prayer. I concluded it by a short t>xhortation, in which I en- deavored to portray to them the oblij ations of a warrior whom religion influences in his conflicts, an.' then took leave of them. after having announced the celebration of the Mass on the mor- row. I had supposed that would be the time of our departure, but bad weather disappointed our hopes, and we were obliged still to remain encamped on that day, which was occupied in making the proper arrangements for our march. During the evening the kindness of an ofiicer procured for us a sight of one of those spectacles connected with Indian warfare MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 141 wliicli most persons admire, as being able to excite even in the most faint-hearted, that martial ardor which transforms them into true warriors. For myself, however, I could never look upon it but as a comic farce, likely to excite violent laughter in one who was not on his guxrd. I refer to one of their was-feasts. Inwiue to yourself an immense assembly of savages, adorned with all the ornaments most likely to disfigure a face to Euro- pean eyes. The vermilion, the white, the green, the yellow, the black made with soot or the scrapings of the pots, all these different colors unite in a single savage visage, and are methodi- cally applied by the aid of a little tallow, which serves for poma- tum. Such is the paint which, on these occasions of solemnity, is called into requisition to embellish, not only the face, but also the head. This is entirely shaven, except one little tuft of hair, reserved on the crown to attach to it plumes of birds, or small pieces of porcelain, or some other similar gewgaw. To each part of the head there is its peculiar ornament. The nose has its pendant ; while the ears are equally well furnished, having been split in infancy, and then stretched out by weights with which they were loaded, so that at last they rest and flap on the shoul- ders. The remainder of their equipment corresponds with this fantastical decoration. A shirt bedaubed with vermilion, collars of porcelain, bracelets of silver, a large knife suspended on the breast, a belt of various colors, but always ridiculously assorted, moccasons of rough skin — such are the accoutrements of an In- dian ! The chiefs and captains are not distinguished, except the latter by a gorget or neck-piece, and the former by a medallion, which has on one side the portrait of the king, and on the re- verse Mars and Bellona giving each other the hand, with the motto, Virtus et honos. Imagine to yourself then, an assembly of people thus adorned, and arranged in lines. In the midst are placed large kettles filled with victuals, cooked and cut into pieces, to be more easily V' i#. ■it .ai \ ; '^K ^'v;SI ■I i>-* % vtl :•"■ i'-iM: ■■-i i !;>',.w^ ■»''i|»-'T M ii',--'-;r I |l] '"i^S.':" »''>,i''-' '' ' .« ' ' ^* I •'■■IP "I 142 JESUITS IN AMERICA. carried about and distributed to the spectators. After a respect- ful silence which announces the majesty of the assembly, some captains deputed by the different nations which assist at the fete commence a chant, which they take up successively. You can imagine without any difficulty what this savage music must be in comparison with the delicacy and taste of European. It ig composed of sounds formed, I should say, almost by chance, and which sometimes do not badly resemble the cries and bowlings of wolves. This is but the overture of the meeting — it is only the announcement and the prelude, to summon the Indians who are dispersed about, to come to the general rendezvous. The assembly being at length formed, the orator of the nation com- mences his speech and solemnly harangues the guests. This is the most reasonable part of the ceremony. A panegyric of the king — the praise of the French nation — the reasons which prove the justness of the war — all those motives of glory and religion which are proper to induce the young to march with joy to the combat — these form the foundation of such discourses, which most commonly do not betray the influence of savage barbarity, I have more than once heard that which the brightest intellects of France would not have disavowed. An eloquence derived from nature has no reason to regret the absence of all assistance from art. The speech being finished, they proceed to nominate the lead- ers who shall command the party. As soon as each one is named, he rises in his place and comes forward to seize the head of one of the animals which constitute the staple of the feast. He lifts it up high to be seen by the whole multitude, crying out at the same time, " Behold the head of an enemy !" Then cries of joy and acclamations burst from every side, announcing the satisfaction of the assembly. The leader then, the head of the animal still in his hand, passes through all the ranks, chanting his war song, in which he exhausts himself in the most exagge- ii!i' MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 143 rated boastings, in insulting defiance of the enemy, and in strange praises wliicli he lavishes on himself. To hear them set forth tlicir own merits, in these moments of warlike enthusiasm, you vould suppose that they are all heroes, able to surpass cvery- tliing — to crush everything — to vanquish everything. As they • ;i«s in review before the savages, these respond to their songs by cries, dull, br \en, drawn apparently from the bottom of the stomach, and accompanied by movements of the body so ludi- crous, that it is necessary to be accustomed to these things, to see them without losing all self-restraint. In the course of the song he is careful to insert from time to time some grotesque pleasantry. Then he stops, as if to felici- tate himself, or rather to receive the plaudits of the savages, wliich in a thousand confused cries are echoed back to his ears, lie prolongs his warlike promenade, as long as the sport pleases him ; when it ceases to do so, he ends it by casting from him with disdain the head which he had held in his hands, to show by this gesture of contempt, that it is a viand of an entirely different kind from that which is necessary to satisfy his military apetite. Then he goes to resume his place, where he is no sooner seated, tliau it sometimes happens that some one dresses for him the liead in a pot of hot cinders ; but this is a sign of friendship and a mark of tenderness which he would not suffer except on the part of a friend well declared and well known ; a like familiarity in an ordinary man would be deemed an insult. To this first warrior others succeed who protract the meeting, especially when the object is to form large parties, because it is in ceremonies of this kind that they make their enrolments. At last the festival is ended by the distribution and consumption of the viands. Such was the war-feast given by the Indians, and the ceremo- nial they observed. The Algonkins, Abnakis, Nipistingues, and Amenccls wurc at this fete. Nevertheless more serious cares demanded our presence elsewhere, and as it was getting late we " 1 1- •.■ ■t.'. -'rV . k. sf •■ ■'■■■if 1 if m •■', !:■■ I! m •li, ;. "'.;■ i ..Hii ■jlfh*; M*^ 1^ !\ , ,', 'f'i ■ :": >r ,*>; :„ v.- -I 4'.. 1 • r ■ :- y-'- !•;' 144 JESUITS IN AMERICA. rose, and each missionary followed by his neophytes departed to finish the day with the usual prayers. A part of the niglit -vas spent in making the last preparations for our departure, wLich was fixed for the next day. The weather on this occasion proved favorable. We embarked, after having placed oui^voyage uiulor the special protection of the Lord, by the celebration of a Mass. which was solemnly chanted with more method and devotion tliau one could readily imagine, for the Indians always excelled in this rite of our faith. The weariness of the march was relieved by the advantage which I had each day of thus celebrating the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, sometimes on the islands which were scat- tered about, sometimes on the banks of the rivers, but always in some place sufficiently retired to favor the devotion of our little army. It was indeed no light consolation for the ministers of the Lord, to hear His praise chanted in each of the difierent Ian- guages of which there were tribes assembled there. Every day each nation chose for itself a convenient place where it separately encamped. They practised too the exercises of religion as regu- larly as they would have done at home in their villages, so that the satisfaction of the Missionaries would have been complete, if all the days of this campaign had been passed as innocently as were those of our march. --^ We traversed the length of Lake Champlain, where the des' terity of the Indians in fishing furnished us with an anuising spectacle. Standing up in the bow of the canoe, with spear in hand, they darted it with wonderful address, and struck the large sturgeons, without their little skiffs, which the least irregu- lar motion would have overturned, appearing to lean in the slightest degree either to the right or to the left. Yet useful as this fishing was, it was not even necessary that we should sus- pend oui march to favor it. The fisherman alone laid aside his paddle, but in return he was charged to pfovide for the subsis- tence of all the others, an office in whose duties he fully succeedeil sm^.i MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 149 At length, after being six days on our route, we reached Fort Vaudreuil,* otherwise called Carellon, which had been assigned as the general rendezvous of our troops. Scarcely had we begun to distinguish the summit of the fortifications, when our Indians arranged themselves in order of battle, each tribe under its own ensign. Two hundred canoes thus formed in beautiful order, furnished a spectacle which caused even the French officers to hasten to the banks, judging it not unworthy of their curiosity. As soon as I had placed my foot on land, I hastened to pay my i^espects to M. the Marquis de Montcalm, whom I had for- merly the pleasure to know in Paris. The sentiments of respect with which he honored our Order were also knojivn to me, and on this occasion he received me with that affability which announced the goodness and generosity of his heart. The Abnakis, more to satisfy their own inclinations and their sense of duty, than to con- form to mere ceremonials, did not delay to present themselves at the quarters of the General. Their orator complimented him briefly as they had directed him. " My father," said he, " do not fear. These are not mere compliments which I come to give you. I know your heart ; it disdains such offerings ; it is sufficient for you to have merited them. Well, in so doing you render me a service, for I was in no little embarrassment through the vain endeavor to reveal all I felt. 1 content myself then with as- suring you, that these your children whom you behold, are all fully prepared to partake your perils, being well assured that they shall not delay also to share in the glory which shall follow." The turn of this compliment, it would seem, (iould hardly have come from a savage ; but no one could have the least doubt on this point, if he knew the character of mind of him who pro- nounced it. At the quarters of M. de Montcalm, I also heard of the ad- mirable defence which had been made a few days before by a [* Ticonderoga.] 8 ^%m H m 1 ''}' I 1 ■ t m ' 'i V ■"->■'"■. r '-;>■ '■n ■ ■J 'i '■ i ^■t' !• "%' ^'d ■^':¥ .„ "•'•...1' „ . ' : !> II if -1i vW\ '■'i\\ t ':\...-'M ;4' ■ir'i; ;•* *, 1 Ii 't^, If %f if *£,;.!] ^ u iJS'^i •'ml:;'* ''■ 146 JESUITS IN AMERICA. Canadian officer, named M. de Saintout. He had been sent on a scouting expedition on Lake St. Sacrament, his party conslstinc of eleven individuals, including himself, in a single frail bark canoe. In doubling a point of land, he was surprised by two English boats, which were concealed in ambush, and commenced a brisk attack upon him. The parties were so unequally matched. that one single well-aimed volley would have decided the victory. and at the same time the lives of the French. M. de Saintout. who was a prudent man, gained in haste an island which was formed in the lake by a perpendicular cliff of rocks. Thither the enemy eagerly pursued him, but he presently damped their ar- dor by a discharge which he made on them with as much judg. raent as good fortune. The enemy, though disconcerted for some moments, shortly returned to the charge, but they were again so warmly received, that they hastened to debark on the opposite shore, which was within gun-shot. The combat then recommenced with more obstinacy than before, but success was ever the same, on our side. M. de Saintout perceiving that the enemy was in no humour to attempt an attack upon him at his post, and that he could not go to them without the risk of having his canoe sunk, determined on a retreat. He conducted it with coolness, as he had before defended himself iv^ith courage. He embarked in the presence of the English, who did not dare to pursue him, but contented themselves with keeping up an in- cessant fire. Three of our party were wounded in this rencontre, but only slightly, of whom M. de Saintout was one, and M. do Grosbois, a cadet of the colonial troops, was killed at his post The enemy by their own acknowledgment had sent out thirty- seven from their fort, while only seventeen returned thither. Blows like this excite astonishment in Europe, but here the valor of the Canadians has so often multiplied them, that we are rather surprised not to see them repeated more than once in the course TIE MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 147 of a single campaign. This letter in its progress will furuish a 'jruuf ill support of this assertion. After having paid my respects to M. de Montcalm, I returned to the quarters of the Abnakis. My object was, to direct the orator immediately to assemble his countrymen, and to inform them, that during the few days which would intervene before their departure to attack the English fort, I would attend to their religious duties, and that they should prepare themselves for this dangerous expedition by all those steps proper to assure them- selves success with God. I at the same time let them know that my tent would be open at all times and for every one, and that I should always be ready, even at the peril of my life, to furnish them those succors which my ministry required. My offers were accepted. One party gave me the satisfaction of seeing tliem undergo the rite of penance. I thus disposed some of them to the reception of the August sacrament of our altars. It was on the following Sunday, the twenty-fourth of July, that they enjoyed this happiness. I neglected nothing which could invest this step with the greatest possible pomp. I solemnly chanted the Mass, during which I made them the first discourse in the Abnakis language, which I had formally composed. Its subject was, the obligation they were under to do honor to their religion by their conduct, in the presence of so many idolatrous nations, who either did not understand it, or else blasphemed it, and who had their eyes fixed on them I endeavored to present in glow- ing colors the motives best adapted to make an impression, nor did I forget to recal to their minds those perils inseparable from war, which their courage and valor induced them to multiply, rather than avoid. If the attention of an audience and their modest deportment could decide the question as to the effect of a discourse, I should have had every reason to congratulate myself on my feeble efforts. These exercises engaged us through most of the morning ; but the Indian does not count the moments »?■•, ": 11 -\t ] :> 1 ^ .i-'i ^ 1 . 1 '•>■ firrr. ».>■! fW i',. ■'■■ '^ii- |l|:vi||^^|t,^-'| 148 JESUITS IN AMERICA. which he gives to religion ; he behaves himself with propriety and earnestness while in our churches. But he too often finds cause of scandal in the liberties which the French permit them- selves to take while there, and the weariness which they bear im- pressed upon their countenances. Such is the happy disposition which the Indians show one day to become perfect Christians. These were the occupations to which I gave myself up with the greatest satisfaction during the time of our sojourn in the neighborhood of Fort Vaudreuil. It did not last long, for at the expiration of the third day, we received orders for our departure to rejoin the French army which was encamped on the high grounds near the Portage. This is the place where a great fall of water obliged us to transport by land to Lake St. Sacrament the stores necessary foi; the siege. Arrangements were ace ord- ingly made to depart, when they were arrested by a spectacle which attracted the attention of every one. They saw at a distance in a branch of the river, a little fleet of Indian canoes, which by their arrangement and ornaments an- nounced a victory. It was M. Marin, a Canadian officer of great merit, who was returning triumphant and covered with glory from an expedition with which he had been charged. At the head of a force of about two hundred Indians, he had been detached to go in the direction of Fort Lidis,* but had the courage with his little flying camp to attack the advanced entrenchments, and the good fortune to carry tha principal quarter. The Indians had only time to bring oflf thirty-five scalps of the two hundred men they killed, but without their victory being stained by a drop of their own blood, or the loss of a single man. The enemy, to the number of three thousand men, sought in vain to have their re- venge, by pursuing them in their retreat, but it was made with- ' [* Generally written Lydius, otherwise called Fort Edward, about fifteen miles from Fort George.] MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 149 out any loss.* While they were busy in counting the number of their barbarous trophies, that is, the English scalps with which the canoes were adorned, we perceived on the other side of the river a French bark, which was bringing us five English bound aud conducted by the Outaouacs, whose prisoners they were. A sight of these unhappy captives spread joy and satisfaction through the hearts of those who were present, but it was, for the most part, a ferocious and barbarous joy, which showed itself by fearful cries, and by steps which were sad for humanity. A thousand Indians drawn from the thirty-six nations who were united under the French standard, were present, and lined the bank. In an instant, without any apparent concert between them, we saw them rush with the greatest precipitation into the neighboring woods. I did not know what could be the object of a retreat so hasty and unexpected, but it was almost immediately .til' ' , i H [♦ In the New York Secretary of State office in Albany, are the docu- ments relating to our Colonial history, which were brought out during the past year by the historical agent, J. R. Broadhead, Esq. Among the Paris documents are the official despatches relating to this expedition. The af- fair of M. Marin is thus given in a letter of M. Doreil to the Minister of War, dated July 31st, 1757. " A detachment of 150 men, the greater part Indians, whom M. de Mont- calm had sent out on a scouting expedition, between Forts George and Ly- dius. under the command of M. Marin, lieutenant in the Colonial troops, have struck a blow remarkable for its boldness. They arrived on the morn- ing of the 23rd, near Fort Lydius. At first they encountered a patrol of 10 men, who were all killed. They then came up with the guard of 50 men, who met with the same fate. A corps of the enemy of more than 4000 men were arrayed in order of battle, marched forth from their en- trenchments, and advanced to the borders of the woods where M. Marin was in anibusL. He kept up a fire for more than an hour, killed many of the enemy, and at last retired in such good order, that although he was pur- sued for two leagues, he lost but a single man, a Canadian. Our detach- ment returned on the 26thj with 32 scalps and one prisoner." Vol xlvi. p, 202.] I i;: m If tr: I. ,■!■•-■ V « 164 JESUITS IN AMERICA. .; ,11 .X'^i?' i mvM}.f. i'i ■ ■■•V '■ u; -life: 'III' mwm achieved at the cost of a single Indian wounded, who;3e wrist was injured by a shot.* Such was the fate of the detachment of the unfortunate M. Copperel, who was the commander, and is said by general report to have perished in the water. The enemy referred to the disas- ters of that day, in terms which marked equally their grief and surprise. They candidly acknowledged the greatness of tlieir loss. It would have been difficult indeed to disprove it in tlie slightest particular. The dead bodies of their officers and soldiers, some floating on the waters of Lake Saint Sacrament, and some already stretched on the shore, would have testified against their denial. As to their prisoners, the greater part woro as yet groaning in captivity to the Chevalier de Levi. I saw them file ofi" in bands, escorted by their conquerors, who doliglited with the barbarity of tlieir triumphs, did not even show any dispo- sition to soften their defeat to the vanquished. In the space of one league, which it was necessary for me to pass to rejoin my Abnakis, I met very many little troops of these captives. More than one Indian stopped me on my way to show me his prize, and [* M. Doreil's letter to the Minister sub-stantially agrees 'with tliis— "Au English detachment composed of 350 men under the command of a colonel, five captains, Ibur lieutenants, and one ensign were sent out from Fort George in 22 barges, (these bai-ges are large boats), the object of the enemy being to cut off our advanced corps and to make them prisoners. About 400 of our In- dians, commanded by M. do Corbiere and some other colonial officers, who were in ambush among tlic islanils of Luke St. Sacrament, entirely destroyed the party on the 26th. Only two boats were saved. The Indians have brought in 180 prisoners. The rest have been killed or drowned, and the greater part of the boats destroyed. For all this we have but one single In- dian slightly wounded. The English surrendered thems'^lves, so to speak. without resistance." Brodheadh Colonial Documents, vol. XL VI. p. S07-S, Montcalm, in his official report, says — "I have here about 161 prisoners, of whom five are officers. The English have had about IGO men killed or drowned"— J^jrf. p. 204.] MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 155 to enjoy my applause as he went along. The love of country did not permit me to be insensible to these successes which interested the nation. But misery has a claim not only in religion, but even in nature. These prisoners moreo\er presented themselves to me in so sad a condition, their eyes filled with tears, their faces covered with sweat and even with blood, and a cord around their necks, that at the sight, sentiments of compassion and humanity vere excited in my breast. The ardent spirits of which their new masters had most freely partaken, had heated their blood, and irritated their nal.ural icrocity, so that I feared every instant to see some prisoner, the victim of their cruelty and drunkenness, massacred before my eyes and falling dead at my feet. I there- fore scarcely dared to raise my head, for fear of encountering the looks of some of these miserable beings, but I was shortly after- vrards obliged to be witness to a spectacle of a different kind, more horrible than any that I had yet seen. My tent had been placed in the middle of the encampment of the Outaouacs. The first object which presented itself to my eyes on arriving there was a large fire, while the wooden spies fixed in the earth gave signs of a feast. There was indeed one taking place. But, Heaven ! what a feast ! The remains of the body of an Englishman war there, the skin stripped off, and more than oue-half the flesh gone. A moment after I perceived these inhu- man beings eat with famishing avidity of this human flesh ; I saw them taking up this detestable broth in large spoons, and apparent- ly without being able to satisfy themselves with it. They in- formed me that they had prepared themselves for this feast by drinking from skulls filled with human blood, while their smeared faces and stained lips gave evidence of tl^e truth of the story. What rendered it more sad was, that they had placed very near them some ten Englishmen to be spectstors of their infamous repast. The Outaouac closely resembles the Abnakis, and I thought that, by making some mild representation to these inhu- ■k'^ ■?. t; ■ ) V > ' I ■'.If 'i " ■ ■ 1 1 • ! ■ -■■■■^■4^M 1 I '1. , \, ! i 156 JESUITS IN AMERICA. I-.^: ,■( ■ JK- «:' :;;-vl man monsters, I might gain some hold upon them. But I ^as only flattering myself. A young man, with a resolute air, took up the conversation, and said to me in bad French — " You have French taste ; I have Indian : this food is good for me." He accompanied his remarks by the offer which he made me of a piece of the broiled Englishman. I could make no reply to Ms argument, which was so worthy of a savage ; as to his ofiers, one may easily imagine with what horror I rejected them. Taught by the failure of this attempt that my efibrts could not in any way avail the dead, I turned to the living, whose lot appeared to me a hundred-fold more to be deplored. As I approached the English, one of their number arrested my atten- tion. By the military ornaments with which he was still deco- rated, I recognized an officer. My purpose was immediately formed to purchase him, and thus secure for him both his liberty and his life. With this view I approaqhed an aged Outaouac, believing that the chill of age having moderated his ferocit), I should find him more favorable to my designs. I extended to him my hand, saluting him politely, in the hope of gaining him to me by kindness of manner. But it was not a man with whom I was dealing; it was something worse than a ferocious beast, wlio was not to be softened by these caresses. " No," said he to me, in a thundering and menacing tone, well calculated to fill mewitli fear, if at that moment I had been susceptible of any other senti- ments than those which inspired compassion and horror — "No, I do not at all wish your favors; be gone." I did not think it by any means necessary to wait till he should repeat a compli- ment of this kind ; I obeyed him. I went to shut myself up in my tent, to surrender my mind to the reflections which religion and humanity were able to suggest under such circumstances. I had no idea of taking any measures to warn my Abnakis against an excess so outrageous. Although the example might be a dangerous rock for all these men, as far MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 157 as tbeir temperance and morals were concerned, yet they were incapable of going to such extremities. We can even do them the justice to say, that in the times when they were plunged most deeply in the darkness of paganism, they had never merited the odious name of cannibals. Their humane and docile character ia this respect had, since that time, rendered them honorable ex- ceptions to the greatest part of the Indians on this continent. Reflections of this kind occupied me until the night was far ad- vanced. The next morning, on awakening, I supposed that no vestige of the repast of the previous evening would remain about my tent. I flattered myself that the fumes of their liquor being dissipated, and the excitement inseparable to action having passed off, their spirits would have become more settled, and their hearts more liunian, But I was acquainted with neither the genius nor the taste of the Outaouacs. It was through choice, through delicacy, through daintiness, that they nourished themselves with human flesh. Since the earliest dawn they had done nothing but recom- meuce their execrable cookery, and now were waiting with anx- iety for the desired moment when they should be able to glut their more than canine appetite, by devouring the sad relics of the body of their enemy. I have already mentioned that there were three missionaries attached to the service of the Indians. During all the campaign our lodgings were together, our deliberations were unanimous, our movements uniform, and our wishes entirely ag: eed. This mutual understanding served not a little to sweeten the toils in- separable from a military march. After consultation we all agreed, that the respect due to the dignity of our holy mysteries would not permit us to celebrate the sacrifice of the Lamb with- out spot, in the very centre of barbarism. The more these peo- ple were given up to the most extravagant superstitions, would they bo inclined to desecrate our most holy ceremonies, or even i I '■ I; . , .1..,, m f,h -'I'lil* ; , ' '■ .' ;i IK''- ^--^ I i1 ' ,f : ri.-. *■ . II l".< hf •■ ^ •.! . i;i.-- 158 JESUITS IN AMERICA. to draw from them materials for the embellishment of their jurr. gleries. For this reason, we abandoned the place defiled by such abominations, to take refuge in the woods. I was not able to make this movement without separating myself a little from my Abnakis. It seemed as if I was authorized in doing so, and yet you will judge from what afterwards took place, that I had almost reason to regret my first place of encampment. I was no sooner established in my new abode, than I saw the deep desire to par- take of the benefits of confession renewed in the hearts of my neophytes. The crowd increased so much, that I was scarcely able to answer the demands made upon mo by their eagernc-ss, These occupations, joined to the other duties of my min'stry, so entirely filled up several days, that they passed by almost without my perceiving it. Happy should I have been if I had only been obliged to attend to such worthy functions ; my life itself would not have been too much to pay for such an honor. But the consolations of the ministers of Jesus Christ are not last ing here below, because success does not always attend their la- bors undertaken for the glory of their master. The enemies who conspire to defeat them are too numerous, not to enjoy at last tLc sad triumph of success. While many of my Abnakis in a Christian way were procur- ing reconciliation and grace from the Lord, others were rashly seeking to irritate his wrath and provoke his vengeance. Drink- ing is the favorite passion and the universal vice of all these Indian tribes, and unfortunately there are too many greedy hands who will pour out for them the " fire-water," in despite of laws both divine and human. There is no doubt but that the presence of the missionary, by the influence which his character gives liini, can prevent many of these disorders. For the reasons which I have given above, I had removed myself a little from my people, so that I was separated from them by a small woods. This 1 could not think it advisable to paas through at night, to observe MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 153 whether good order reigned in our camp, as I should have ex- posed myself to some untoward adventure, not only on the part of the Iroquois attached to the side of the English, who at the very gate of the camp had a few days before taken the scalp from one of our grenadiers, but also on the part of our own idolaters, on whom experience had taught me, I could not depend. Some young Abnakis therefore, joined with some other Indians of the different tribes, profited by my absence and the darkness of the night, to go, while all were wrapped in sleep, to obtain secretly some drink in the tents of the French. Once having procured their precious treasure, they hastened to make use of it, and soon their heads were entirely turned. Drunkenness among the In- dians is rarely c[uiet, but almost always blustering. These per- sons showed it at first by songs and dances, in a word by noise, until finally, they ended in blows. At the dawn of day their extravagances had reached their height, and this was the first intimation I had received, on rising, as to what was going on. I promptly ran to the spot where the tumult was taking place. Everything there was in alarm and agitation, the natural effects of drunkenness. But all was immediately restored to order by the docility of my people. I took them one after the other, fa- miliarly by the hand, and conducted them without resistance to their tent, where I ordered them to repose. This scandal seemed to have passed away, when a Moraigan, Datm-alized among the Abnakis and adopted by that nation, re- newed the scene in a manner a little more serious. After hav- ing some high words with an Iroquois, his companion in the de- bauch, they at last came to blows. The former, who was much the most athletic, after having felled his antagonist, rained on him a shower of blows, and what is worse, tore his shoulder with his teeth. The conflict was at its height when I arrived. I was able, however, to obtain no other succor than that of my own arms to separate the combatants, the savages mutually fearing too ■,.'^: % ■ f. d ..J '■ ■ » 160 JESUITS IN AMERICA. ii' ' ■:;;*: I" ■ m '•f: ^1, \A much over to interfere, let the result be what it might, in these disputes among each other. But my strength was not at all equal to the greatness of the work I had undertaken, and the vic- tor was too much excited to release his prey so soon. I \;vas tempted to leave these furious beings to inflict, with their own hands, a proper punishment for their excesses, but feared Ic t the scene might have a bloody termination by the death of one of the cham- pions, and therefore redoubled my efiForts. By dint of shaking the Abnakis, he at last perceived that some one had hold of him, and therefore turned his head. It was not without deep shame that he recognized me, yet nevertheless he did not at once return to reason, for it took him some moments to recover himself; when he gave the Irof|uois free space to escape, of which he availed him- self with a good grace. After having taken measures to prevent a renewal of the con- test, I retired more fatigued than one would believe with the in- cursion I had been obliged to make ; but it was necessary for me almost immediately to recommence. I was informed that a troop of my warriors, assembled on the bank around the boats which contained the magazines of powder, were amusing themselves with firing their guns, in despite of the guard, and in contempt even of the orders, or rather prayers of the officers ; for the Indian is his own master and his own king, and carries everywhere with him his feeling of independence. I had not at this time to con- tend against drunkenness, but the point was to repress the youth- ful folly of some thoughtless people. The decision therefore was prompt. Imagine to yourself a crowd of school-boys dreading the eyes of their masters. Such in my presence were these re- doubtable warriors ; they disappeared at my approach, to the great astonishment of the French. With difficulty was I able to arrest one, from whom I demanded, in a tone of indignation, whether he was tired of living, or whether he had conspired for our destruction ? He answered me, ia the mildest possible tone, MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 161 "No, my father." "Why then," I added, "why do you expose yourself to the danger of being blown into the air, and to blow us up with you by the explosion of the powder ?" " Reproach us with ignorance," replied he, "but not with intentional wrong. W'^e did not know that it was so near." Without at all wishing to impeach his veracity, one cannot but suspect the truth of his excuse ; but it was much that he was willing to descend to a justi- fication, and much more that he was willing to put an end to this dangerous sport, which was done at once. The inaction to which I saw our Christian Indians condemned, joined to their being mingled with so many idolatrous tribes, made me tremble, not for the steadfastness of their religious prin- ciples, but for their consistency of conduct. I earnestly longed for the day when the necessary preparations for the expedition king finally completed, we should be able to put ourselves in motion. When the mind is occupied, the heart is more safe. At last the desired moment arrived. The Chevalier do Levi, at the head of three thousand men, had commenced his march by land, on Friday the twenty-ninth of July, to enable him to protect the descent of the main body of our force, which was to go by water. His march Jiad none of those facilities which arc fur- nished in Europe by the great roads made with royal magnifi- cence for the accommodation of troops. Thick forests were to be pierced, craggy mountains scaled, and heavy marshes traversed. After a forced march of an entire day, it was accomplishing much if they found they had advanced three leagues, so that it took five days to get over a distance of twelve leagues. On account of these obstacles, which had been foreseen, this corps had pre- ceded us several days in its departure. It was on Sunday that we embarked with the Indians alone, who formed at the time a body of twelve hundred men by themselves, the others having gone by land. We had not advanced more than four or five leagues on the ■ W% ' '■ : I'M % ''7 4)1 :1" a ^1 4' ■ V'} ' i '. > I - /• 1 ♦ , 1 "it! «^ ' <. ' -■'H .■ ^ .• < i,i* y4 :i ■'■•a il?'^-:,-;:-: [1 "!llW"' i^'fc-';' i;,f: V l!v. [i!ll',,:l!JHfi :■ '..ii^';; f: ■' t-'ii I('-" '■'t' '•■• i 'Si if.-.' 162 JESUITS IN AMERICA. lake, before we perceived evident proofs of our late victory. There were the abandoned English boats, which, after having floated a long time at the sport of the winds and waves, had at last been thrown upon the shore. But the most striking spectacle was a great number of the dead bodies of the English, extended on the banks, or scattered here and there through the woods. Some were cut to pieces, and almost all mutilated in the most frightful manner. What a terrible scourge did war seem to me ! It would have been a great consolation to me could I have procured, through my instrumentality, the burial of these sad relics of our enemies, but it was only by peculiar favor that we had been per- mitted to land in this bay. It was absolutely necessary too that we should continue our march without interruption, conformably to the orders which hurried us forward to report ourselves. We landed at night at the place which had been assigned for our camp. It was the side of a hill covered with brambles and thorns, and the haunt of a prodigious number of rattlesnakes.* Our Indians. hunted them out, and caught many, which they brought to me. This venomous reptile, for it deserves this name, if anything ever did, has a head the smallness of which does not accord with the large size of the body ; its skin is in some places regularly marked with a dark spot, and then one of a pale yellow ; the rest of it is entirely black. It is not armed with any sting, but its teetli are exceedingly sharp. Its eye is lively and brilliant ; it carries under the tail many little scales, which it inflates prodigiou.sly. and strikes violently one against the other, when it is irritated. The noise which is thus produced is the occasion of the name hy which it is known. Its gall when smoked, is a specific for the tooth-ache. Its flesh, also smoked and reduced to powder, is said to be an excellent remedy for fever. Some salt, wet and [* Serpens b. sonnettes.] MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 163 applied to the place, is a certain cure for its bite, the venom of which is so prompt that it causes death in less than an hour. The next day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, M. de Mont- calm arrived with the remainder of the army. It became neces- sary for us to resume our route, notwithstanding the deluge of raiu by which we were inundated. We marched almost all the night, until we distinguished the camp of M. de Levi, by three fires placed in the form of a triangle on the top of a mountain. ^Ve halted there, when a general council was held, after which the troops on land again put themselves in motion towards Fort George, now distant only four leagues. It was not till towards noon that we re-entered our canoes. We floated along slowly, for the purpose of giving time to the boats which carried the ar- tillery to follow us. It was very necessary that they should has- ten on. At evening we were more than a league ahead, never- theless, as we had reached a bay, the point of land forming which we could not double, without entirely discovering ourselves to the enemy, we determined, while waiting for new orders, to pass the night there. It was marked by a little action, which was the prelude of the siege. About eight o'clock, two boats sent out from the fort appeared on the lake. They sailed along with an assurance and a tran- (|uillity which they were soon obliged hastily to abandon. One of my neighbors who was on the watch for the general safety, per- ceived them when very far off. The news was at once imparted to all che Indians, and the preparations to receive them were made with promptness and in admirable silence. I was instant- ly summoned to provide for my safety, by gaining the shore, and thence the interior of the woods. It was not at all in consequenco of a courage, out of place in a man in my position, that I turned a deaf ear to the advice which they had the goodness to give me ; but I did not believe the matter was serious, because I thought there were reasons for suspecting the truth of the news. Four ^^*l 5. -4 .?■ '• • i< 'H U-, ■1,1 w. - \\ "l I '.•i '.;Vi i.t ll'i- f ■ \'i «*»v '^1 • ■ 'l^^*. i^r!!;''l! • 'fit •'• S'',!-t;^i If! #:" 5fx ; .1 I. V i' if. ■ f ,IJI >;■'■■■■■ u>'' 'ii'i' .i)r i^iWwf 'i |):««i!rii?J,-;,; .i^Mt? '. ll'lJIIJ. ',.)..■. .1,,,. ^.'il'-'* 164 JESUITS IN AMERICA. hundred boats or canoes, which for the space of two days had covered the waters of Lake Saint-Sacrament, formed too consid- erable a train to have been able to escape the attentive and ob- servant eyes of an enemy. For this reason I had difficulty in persuading myself that two boats would have the temerity, I do not say to measure themselves with us, but even to present them- selves before forces so superior. My reasoning was, that it would only be necessary to show ourselves, to put them to flight. One of my friends, who was a spectator of all that was going on. warn- ed me again, in a tone too serious for me not to heed it, that I was out of place. lie had reason to do so. One boat of a suf- ficient size contained all the missionaries, and over it was stretch- ed a tent, which had been furnished to shield us from the inju- rious eflect of the atmosphere, which in this climate is quite cold during the nights. This pavilion, thus arranged, formed a kind of dark object in the air, which they easily discovered by the light of tlie stars. Curious to investigate what it could be, it was directly towards that spot that the English steered. To choose that course, and to rush on death, was almost entirely the same thing. Slight chance of escape indeed would there have been, unless by good fortune for them, a little accident had drawn us out some moments too soon. One of the sheep we had with us happened to bleat, and at this cry, which disclosed the am- bush, the enemy turned about and made towards the opposite bank, using their oars to the utmost to save themselves through means of the darkness and the woods. This manoeuvre being immediately seen, what was to be done ? Twelve hundred sav- ages were at once in motion, and flew to the pursuit with cries equally frightful by their continuance as by their number. Nev- ertheless, both sides seemed at first to be backward, as not a single shot was discharged. The pursuers not having had time to tbrm, feared to draw the fire upon themselves, and besides wished to take prisoners. The fugitives employed their arms much more :1' MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 165 lya bad (ioiisid- and ob- iulty in ty, I do it tbem- it would it. One Dri; warn- ,t, tbat 1 of a suf- s stretch- the inju. [uite cold cd a kind 3d by tk )uld be, it ered. To itirely tlie iliere have had drawn re had with >d the am- usefully ill accelerating their flight. They had almost i-euchcd the opposite side, when the Indians, who perceived that their prey was escaping, fired, and the English, pressed almost too close by the foremost canoes, were obliged to return it. Then fol- lowed a fearful silence succeeding all this uproar. Wu were wait- ing for the news of success, when a swaggerer took it into hia head to attempt to gain honor for himself by a fietitious account of the action, in which he probably had not even taken part, lie began by assuring us that the battle had been fatal to the Abna- liis. This was suflicient to put me in motion. Furnished with oil for Extreme Unction, I threw myself with haste into a canoe to go and meet the combatants, entreating my guides each mo- ment to use diligence. But there was no necessity for it, at least so far as I was concerned. Encountering an Abnakis, who was better instructed, because he had been more brave, I learned that the action which had been reported as- so murderous, had terminated hi one Nipistingue being killed and one other wound- ed while boarding. I did not wait for the rest of his account, but hastened to rejoin my people, to yield my place to M. 3Iatha- vet, missionary of the Nipistingue tribe. I arrived by water at the same time that M. de Montcalm, who at the sound of the musketry had landed a little below, reached the spot by coming through the woods. He learned that I had just come from as- certaining the state of things, and therefore addressed himself to me for information. My Abnakis, whom I recalled, gave him a short account of the combat. The darkness of the night did not permit them to know the loss on the side of the enemy, but they had seized their boats and made three prisoners. The rest were wandering scattered through the woods. M. de Montcalm, charmed with this detail, retired to make arrangements, with his accustomed prudence, for the operations of the next day. The morning had scarcely begun to dawn, when a party of the Nipistingue tribe, proceeded with the funeral rites of their H 4 , «« ti Wi- III. " ■■(; *!■ i ' h \ ■ t: I i " ».: . i; ; .; r'^ :'•, ! IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^' ^° ^,^' A^ y. "^ s 1.0 I.I ^1^ 1^ ■u lU 12.2 ' KS iiio 11-25 III 1.4 1.6 Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 873-4503 ; I i m if yi 166 JESUITS IN AMERICA. brother, killed during the action of the preceding night, and who had died in the errors of paganism. His obsequies were cele- brated with all pomp and savage splendor. The dead body had been arrayed in all its ornaments, or rather overloaded with all the trinkets that the most unusual degree of pride would be able to employ under circumstances so sad in themselves. Collars of porcelain, silver bracelets, pendants for the ears and the nose, niagnilicent dresses, all had been lavished on him. They had even called in the aid of paint and vermilion, to cover up, under these brilliant colors, the pf.Uid hue of death, and to give to his countenance an air of life which it did not in reality possess. They had not been forgetful of any of the decorations of an Indian warrior. A gorget, or neck-piece, bound with a red rib- , bon, hung negligently on his breast ; his gun was resting en his arm, the tomahawk at his belt, the pipe in his mouth, the lance in his hand, and the kettle, filled with provisions, at his side. Clothed in this warlike and animated array, they had seated him on an eminence covered with grass, which served him for his bed of state. The Indians ranged in a circle about the dead body, re- garded it for some moments in a solemn silence, which did not badly convey the idea of grief This was broken by the orator, who pronounced the funeral oration for the dead. Then suc- ceeded the chants and dances, to the sound of a tabor which is hung round with little bells. In all this there was an indes- cribable air of sadness, which agreed well with the melancholy ceremonial. At length the funeral rites were ended by the in- terment of the dead, near whom they took good care to bury a sufl&cient supply of provisions, for fear, without doubt, that for want of nourishment he might die a second time. I do not at all give these things as the testimony of an eye-witness ; the presence of a missionary would scarcely be in accordance witli these kinds of spectacles, having their origin in superstition, and MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 167 adopted by a stupid credulity. I ^;ive the account whicli I re- ceived from some spectators. The bay however iv which we were moored, resounded on all sides with the noise of war. Everything there was in motion and action. Our artillery, which consisted of thirty-two pieces of cannon and five mortars, placed on some platforms, which were borne on boats fastened together, led the way. In passing the point of land which had concealed us from the view of the enemy, they took care to salute the fort by a general discharge. This at the time was nothing but mere ceremony, but it an- nounced more serious matters. The rest of the little fleet fol- lowed, but slowly. Already a body of the Indians had formed their camp in the rear of Fort George, or on the road to Fort Lydis, to cut off all communication between the two English forts. The corps of the Chevalier de Levi, occupied the defiles of the mountains, which led to the place designated for our land- iag. Favored by these measures, which were planned with so much wisdom, our descent was made without opposition, a good half league below the fort. The enemy however, had too much at home to employ them, to allow of their leaving there to put obstacles in our way. They seemed to have been not in the least expecting a siege, though I cannot imagine from what source their confidence arose. The environs of their foits were occupied by a multitude of tents still standing at the time of our arrival, and we saw there a quantity of barracks which were well adapted to aid the besiegers. It became necessary there- fore for them to clear off all these things which were without, to take down the tents, and to burn the barracks. These move- ments it was not possible for them to effect, without enduring constant discharges on the part of the Indians, always ready to profit by these advantages whioh were afforded them. Their fire indeed would have ijeen much more lively, and more fatal, if another object had not drawn off part of their attention. Some *■ •■JfC ■? ■''M Kt -fS ■H- I ■ ■.'is'j I • :* ' V:. rh::<. Ur I t It 168 JESUITS IN AMERICA. horses and herds of cattie, which the besieged had not bad time to place under cover, were wandering about on the low grounds which were situated in the neighborhood of the fort. For a time, therefore, the chase of these animals furnished the Indians with occupation. A hundred and fifty of the cattle either killed or taken, and fifty horses, were at first the fruits of this petty warfare ; but these were only, as it were, the preliminaries and the preparatory steps for the siege. Fort George was a square, flanked by four bastions ; the cur- tains were strengthened with stakes ; the trenches were sunk to the depth of from ei3hteen to twenty feet ; the scarp and coun- terscarp were shelving and covered with shifting sand ; the walls were built of large pine trees which had been felled, and sus- tained by stakes which were extremely massive, and from whence extended a platform of earth from fifteen to eighteen feet wide, which they had taken care to cover entirely with gravel. From four to five hundred men defended it by the aid of nineteen can- non, of which two were thirty-six pounders, the rest of less calibre, and also four or five mortars. The place was not pro- tected by any other exterior work, except by a fortified entrencli- ment surrounded by palisades, which were strengthe'^ed by heaps of stones. The garrison Avithin it consisted of seventeen hun- dred men, and continually recruited that of the fort. The prin- cipal strength of this entrei shment consisted in its situation, which commanded all around it, and was inaccessible to artillery except on the side, on account of the mountains and morasses which lined the different avenues leading to it. Such was Fort George according to the information I baye gained of these places since its surrender. It was not possible to invest it and block up all the passages. Six thousand Frencli or Canadians and seventeen hundred Indians, which constituted all our force, were by no means equal to the immense extent of ground which it would have been necessary to*encompass to ac- MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 169 ; the cur- e sunk to and coun- the "Walls [, and sus- )m whence L feet wide, ^el. l?rom neteen can- est of less as not pro- d entrencli- ed by heaps jnteen hun- The prin- ts situation, to artillery nd morasses coiiiplii'li that object. Tweuty thoiisautl men would scarcely have been sufficient for the purpose. The enemy had, therefore, always the benefit of one back door to .slip into the woods, which would have been a useful resource if the Indians had not been immediately before them ; but rarely did they escape their hands vvlieu taking thl& road. Their quarters were, besides, on the Lydis roadj so close in the neighborhood of the woods, and where they were accustomed so often to send out scouting parties, that to seek an asylum there would have been only to risk one's life. At a little distance were the lodges of the Canadians, placed on tlie summits of the mountains, and always near enough to assist them. Then the regular troops who had come from France, to whom properly belonged the labors of the siege, occupied the borders of the woods very near the ground on which it was necessary that the trench should be opened. The camp of re- serve followed, furnished with sufficient forces to protect it from the danger of any insult. These arrangements being made, the Marquis de Montcalm caused propositions to be nradc to the enemy, which, had they Ijeen accepted, would have saved much blood and many tears. It was very much in these ternis that the letter of summons was written, which was addrcs.scd to M. Moreau, commander of the place in the name of his ]^ritannic Majesty. " Sir, I have arrived with sufficient force to take the place which you hold, and to cut off all succors which can possibly come to you from any quarter. I number in my train a crowd of Indian tribes, whom the least effusion of blood will enrage to an extent which will forever pre- vent them from entertaining any sentiments of moderation or clemency. The love of humanity has therefore induced me to summon you to surrender at a time when it will not be impos- sible for me to induce them to agree to a capitulation honorable to you and useful for all. I have, &c." signed, Montcalm. The bearer of this letter was M. Fontbranc, Aid de camp of M. 8 ^" ^1l .;•!, !'- t ^r; ^'•^ 't tr' <* 1' 170 JESUITS IN AMERICA. de Levi. Ho was received by the English ofl&cers, with many of whom he was acquainted, with that politeness and attention witb which the laws of honor never dispense, when the war takes place between honorable men. But this favorable reception decided nothing with regard to the surrender of the place, as appeared by the answer. It was as follows : " Monsieur, the General Mont- calm, I am obliged to you, for my part, for the courteous oflfers you have made ; but I cannot accept them : I have little fear of your Indian forces. Besides, I have under my orders soldiers who are determined, like myself, to die or to conquer. I have, &c." signed, Moreau. The haughtiness of this answer was shortly afterwards pub- lished amidst the roar of a general discharge of the enemy's artillery. It was very desirable that we should be in a condition to give an immediate ^jply, but before we could be able to es- tablish a single battery, it was necessary for us to transport our cannon a good half league over the rocks and through the woods. But owing to the voracity of the Indians, we were not able in this work to call in the aid of any of our beasts of burden, Tired, they said, of salt meat, they had no scruples a few days before in seizing them, to regale themsehes, without consulting anything but their appetites. But in default of this aid, so many arms animated by courage and by zeal ♦owards our sovereign, applied themselves with so good a grace to the labor, that all obstacles were shortly cleared away and vanquished, and the business itself carried through to its perfection. Taring all these movements, I was lodged near tlie hospital, where I hoped to be at hand to give to the dying and the dead the appropriate aid of my ministry. I remained there for some time without receiving the least news of my Indians. This silence troubled me ; I had a great desire to assemble them yet once more, to enable them to profit by the perilous circumstanoes in which they were, and to lead them, if it were possible, to those ') ™t MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 171 feelings which were in accordance with their religion. With thia view I determined to go and seek them. The journey had its difficulties and its dangers, besides its length. It was necessary for me to pasij in the neighborhood of the trench, where a soldier busy in wondering at the great effect of a cannon ball on a tree, was shortly after himself, at only a few paces distance from me, the victim of his indiscretion. In pursuing my route, I will acknowledge to you, that I was struck with the air with which tlio French and Canadians bore themselves, in the midst of the painful toils and dangers which occupied them. To see the joy with which they transported to the trench the fascines and gabions, you would have taken them for persons invulnerable to the active and continual fire of the enemy. Such conduct an- nounces clearly their bravery and love for their country ; and this is the character of the nation. I went through all the quar- ters, without finding any of my Abnakis except a few groups dispersed here and there, so that I was obliged to retrace my steps, without gaining anything but the merit of my good inten- tions. Thus separated from my people, I had not the opportunity of being of much benefit to them ; but my services were at least of some use in favor of a Moraigan prisoner, whose tribe is in the interests and almost entirely under the rule of England. He was a man whose figure assuredly possessed neither dignity nor grace. A head enormous in size, with little eyes, excessive cor- pulence united with a short body, legs thick an-^ stumpy, all these traits with some others of the same kind, certainly entitled him to a place among the deformed. But to be thus unfortunate in appearance, does not at the same time deprive him of his claim to human nature, that is to say, it does not diminish his right to the attention and regards of Christian charity. He was indeed not less the victim of his unpi epossessing appearance than of his bad fortune. Bound to the trunk of a tree, where his grotesque figure excited the curiosity of all who passed. Lootings were at f A. ^1 ■ m m%:^^ , lit tlio head of all tlio forces, were awaiting the conflict. Im- uu'Ji'itely I deputed some among them to assemble those who wiro dispersed about. I prepared myself to suggest to them th.iso religious acts which were proper under the circumst:uices, ami to give them a general absolution on tho approach of tho cutiuy; but they did not appear. M. do Montcalm, not to lose the benefit of so many movements, determined on a stratagem which might bring on the engagement which we had come to seek witii so much trouble. lie proposed to order tho French and tho Cinmdians together, to make a feint, while the Indians concealed ill the woods should face the enemy, who would not fail to make a vigorous sortie. The expedient proposed to our Iroquois was an admirable invention, but they objected, on the ground that tho day was too far advanced. The rest of the savages had in vain appealed from this judgment ; the excuse was judged of sufficient weight, and was accepted ; thus each returned to his post without having seen anything but the preparation for battle. At length, on the next day, being the Vigil of St. Laurence, the seventh day after our arrival, the trench liaving been pushed as far as tho gardens around the fort, thoy prepared to establish our third and last battery. Its nearness to the fort gave us reason to hope, that in three or four days they would be able to make a general assault, by means of the breach, which would then be of sufficient size. But the enemy spared us tho labor and danger, for they hoisted the French flag, and demanded terms of capitulation. We now come to the surrender of tho place, and the bloody catastrophe which followed. I doubt not but every corner of Europe has resounded with the news of this sad scene, as an outrage which perhaps recoiled upon the nation itself, and 9* ■ f-, * \ %. ic /■'.ft • ■ ^ I ■ vV:,r ■.1 ' pt (1 178 JESUITS IN AMERICA. \n branded it with dishonor. Your impartiality will enable you to judge in a moment, whether so flagrant an imputation could be derived from any source but ignorance or malignity. I shall only mention those facts, the publicity and truth of which are so in- contestable, that without any fear of contradiction, I can sustain them by the testimony even of the English officers, who have been the witnesses and the victims. The Marquis de Montcalm before he would listen to any terms, judged it right to take the opinion of all the Indian nations, for the purpose of conciliating them by this condescension, and rendering the treaty inviolable by their agreement. He therefore assembled all the chiefs, to whom he communicated the terms of capitulation, which granted the enemy the right of marching out of the place with the honors of war, and imposed upon them, besides the obligation of not serv- ing during eighteen months against His Most Christian Majesty, that also of setting at liberty all the Canadians taken prisoners during this war. All these articles were universally applauded, and furnished with this seal of general approbation, the treaty was signed by the Generals of the two crowns. In consequence the French army in battle array advanced towards the place, to take possession in the name of His Most Christian Majesty, while the English troops, arrayed in beautiful order, marched out to go and shut themselves up till the next day in their entrenchments, Their march was not marked by any contravention of the la^s of nations. But the Indians did not delay to strike their blow. During the military ceremony which accompanied the taking possession, they had penetrated into the place in crowds through the embrasures of the cannon, for the purpose of proceeding to the pillage, which it had been agreed to give up to them ; but they did not confine themselves to pillage. There were still re- maining in the casemates some sick persons whose condition had not allowed them to follow their countrymen in the honorable re- treat which had been granted to their valor. These were there- MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 179 fore the first victims on whom they threw themselves without pity, and sacrificed to their bloodthirstincss. I was a witness of this spectacle. I saw one of these barbarians come forth from the casemates, which nothing but the most insatiate avidity for hlood could have induced him to enter, for the infected atmos- phere which exhaled from it was insupportable. He carried in his band a human head, from whence streams of blood were flow- ing, and which he paraded forth as if it had been the most valu- able prize he had been able to seize. But this was only a slight prelude to the cruel tragedy of the morrow. Early in the morning the Indians began to assemble about the entrenchments, demanding of the English, goods, pro- visions, in a word everything valuable which their greedy eyes could perceive : but these demands were made in a tone which announced that a thrust of the spear would be the price of a re- fusal. Nor were these requirements rejected by the English. They undressed, they stripped themselves, they reduced them- selves to nothing, to purchase at least their lives by this surren- der of everything. This compliance should have softened the savages, but their heart is not like that of any other human being ; you may say, that naturally it is the very seat of inhu- manity. Nothing that had been done rendered them less dis- posed to go to the most severe extremes. A corps of the French troops, consisting of four hundred men, appointed to protect the retreat of the enemy, arrived and arranged themselves in haste. The English commenced filing out. Woe to those who closed the march, or to the stragglers whom illness or any other reason separated ever so little from the main body ! They were as good as dead, and their lifeless bodies soon strewed the ground, and covered the circuit of the entrenchments. This butchery, which at first was only the work of some few savages, became the signal which transformed them all into so many ferocious beasts. They discharged right and left heavy blows with their hatchets on li H.rr \V\ 4 - Y' 'm ; : '■ ', I' i. '-n't it . vf ''.p •■t ; .-* Vt: '■•i' I ■•!' : !■ 180 JESUITS IN AMERICA. those wlio came within their reach. The massacre however was D' ' oi any duration, nor was it by any means as considerable as so much fury would have seemed to give reason to fear ; it did not exceed forty or fifty men. The patience of the English in thus being contented to bow their head ^ to the weapons of tlieir xecutioners had the effect of shortly stopping the slaughter, but this did aot turn the savages either to reason or equity. "Witli fearful cries they engaged themselves in making prisoners. I arrived while these things were going on, and I do not think that any one could partake of human nature, and remain insensible in such sad circumstances. The son snatched from a father's arms, the daughter torn from the bosom of her mother, the hu -iband separated from his wife, the ofiicers stripped to tlioir shirts, without respect for their rank or for decency, a crowd of unhappy beings who were running about at random, some to- wards the woods, others towards the tents of the French, tlicse towards the fort, those towards places which seemed to promise them an asylum ; such were the pitiable objects which presented themselves to mv eyes. Nevertheless, the French were not bj any means indolent spectators, or insensible to this catastrophe, The Chevalier de Levi ran in all directions where the tumult seemed most violent, to endeavor to remedy it, with a courage animated by the kindness so natural to his illustrious blood. A thousand times he faced death, which, notwithstanding his birth and his virtues, he could not have escaped, if a particular provi- dence had not watched over the safety of his life, and arrested the savags arms already raised to strike him. The French and Canadian officers imitated his example with a zeal worthy of tlie humanity which has always characterized the nation, but the great body of our troops, occupied in guarding our batteries and the fort, was by its distance entirely prevented from rendering him any assistance. And what avail were four hundred mcu against about fifteen hundred furious savages, who could scarcely If MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 181 distiuguish us from the enemy ? One of our sergeants who had opposed himself bravely to tiieir violence, was struck to the earth by the blow of a spear. One of our French ofl&cers. as the re- ward of the same zeal, received a severe wound which brought him to the borders of thu grave. Besides, in this moment of alarm, one scarcely knew to Nphich side to turn. Those very measures which seemed to be most dictated by prudence, ended in disastrous and unfortunate results. M. de Montcalm, who, on acc' uut of the distance of his tent, did not learn till a late hour what was going on, at the very first news of this occurrence repaired to the spot, with a speed which marked the goodness and generosity of his heart. He multiplied himself, he seemed endowed with ubiquity, he was everywhere ; prayers, menaces, promises, were used, he tried everything, and at last resorted to force. He thought it was due to the birth and the merit of Colonel Yonu. to wrest by authority and with violence, his nephew from the hands of an Indian ; but, alas ! his deliver- ance cost the lives of a number of prisoners whom their tyrants massacred immediately through the fear of a similar act of rigor. The tumult nevertheless was constantly on the increase, when some one happily thought of crying to the English, who formed a considerable bo(ly, to increase their speed. This forced march had its effect. Tho Indians, partly on account of the uselessness of pursuit, and partly because they were satisfied with their prizes, began to retire, until the few who remained ^ere easily dispersed. The English, without interruption, con- tinued their route to Fort Lydis, where they arrived at first to the number of three or four hundred. I am ignorant of the number of those who having gained the woods, were so happy as to reach the place by aid of the cannon, which they took care to fire during several days to guide them. The rest of the garrison however had not all perished by the sword, neither were they groaning under a load of chains. <"■ |fei ,111 m' 11!- 'ft^ i la;: w^ E i'|^.f 11 ml 11 11 m^l '-' m'Vu H^,j '' 1 'K Kril ' ' J 1 r ! Ri'i "'" ■ ■' ■Bj ^ I i'' II 'M 1 m' 182 JESUITS IN AMERICA. Many had found safety in f he tents of the French or in the fort. It was thither that 1 repaired, after the disorders were in some degree over. A crowd of weeping females came to surround me. They threw themselves at my knees, they kissed the bot- tom of my robe, uttering from time to time lamentable cries which pierced my heart. It was not in my power to dry up the source of their tears ; they demanded again their sons, theh' daughters, their husbands, whose removal they deplored. Could I restore these to them ? But at least I had an opportunity which just then offered itself to diminish the number of these miser- able beings, and I embraced it with avidity. A French officer informed me that a Huron at that very time in the camp, had in his possession an infant of six months, whose death was certain if I difl not immediately hasten to its rescue. I did not fur a moment hesitate. I ran in haste to the cabin of the savage, in whose arms I saw the innocent victim, who was tenderly kissing the hands of his spoiler, and playing with some collars of porce- lain which he wore. The sight gave new ardor to my zeal. I began by liattering the Huron with all the praises which truth enabled me to bestow on the valor of his nation. He saw my object at once. " Hold," said he to me, very civilly, " do you see this infant ? I have not by any means stolen it : I found it left behind in haste ; you want it, but you shall not have it." In reply to all that I could urge with regard to the uselessness of his prisoner, and its certain death for want of the nourishment proper for its tender age. he produced some fat with which to feed it ; adding, that after all he should find, in case of its death, some corner of ground in which to bury it, and that then I should be free to give it my blessing. I replied to his speech by the offer to give him a sufficiently large sum in silver if he would surrender up his little capUve, but he persisted in his re- fusal. He finally lowered his terms to the demand of another English captive in exchange. If he had made no farther dimi- MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 193 nution in his requirements, it would have been settled with re- gard to the infant's life. I thought indeed that its sentence of death was pronounced, when I saw the Huron holding a consul- tation with his companions ; for until then the conversation had been carried on in French, which he understood. This parley disclosed a ray of hope to my eyes ; nor was I disappointed. The result was, that the infant should be given to me, if I would deliver to him in return the scalp of an enemy. The proposition however did not at all embarrass me. " It shall be forthcoming shortly," I replied to him, rising, " if you JVie a man of honor." Departing with haste to the camp of the Abnakis, I demanded of the first person I met, whether he had any scalps, and whether he wished to do a favor to gratify me. I had every reason to be pleased with his complaisance, for he untied his pouch and gave me my choice. Provided with one of these barbarous trophies, I carried it off in triumph, followed by a crowd of French and Ca- nadians, curious to know the Issue of the adventure. Joy seemed to furnish me with wings, and in a moment I had rejoined my Huron. "See," said I, in meeting him, "see your payment." " You are right," he replied, " it is indeed an English scalp, for it is red." This is in truth the color which ordinarily distin- guishes the English colonists in these countries. " Well ! there is the infant, carry it away, it belongs to you." I did not give him time to retract, but immediately took the unfortunate little being in my hands. As it was almost naked, I wrapped it in my robe, but it was not accustomed to be carried by hands as little used to this business as mine, and the poor infant uttered its cries, which taught me as much my own awkwardness as its suf ferings. I consoled myself however, with the hope of presently calming it, by placing it in more tender hands. I arrived at the fort, and at the sound of its feeble cries all the womcL ran towards me. Each one flattered herself with the ■ *.<" . - '■'■M 4' \ ■^w » ■-4-.ti'. :^h:: n B<..4 ■■ii. J I. , * 1 1; . 184 JESUITS IN AMERICA. hope of recovering the object of her maternal tendernes,^. They eagerly examined it, hut i»oither the eyes nor the heart of any one recognized in it her child. They therefore retired again to one side, to give anew free course to their lamentations and com- plaints. I found myself placed in no little emhariassmeut by this retreat. Being four or five leagues distant from every French habitation, how could I procure nourishment for au in- fant of so tender an age ? I was absorbed in my reflection.s when I saw an English officer pass who happened to be well ac- quainted with the French language. I addressed him therefore in a firm tone : '• Sir, I have just ransomed this young infani from slavery, but it will not escape death, unless you direct some one of these women to take the place of its mother, and nurse it, until I shall be able to provide for it otherwise." The French officers who were present supported my request. With that h" spoke to the English women. One of them offered to render it this service, if I would be willing to answer for her life and that of her husband, to charge myself with their support, and to see that they were conveyed to Boston from Montreal. I immediate- ly accepted the proposition, and requested M. du Bourg-la-Marque to detach three grenadiers to escort my English to the Cana- di'-in camp, where I flattered myself that I should find means to fulfil my new engagements. This worthy officer responded with kindness to my request. I was about quitting the fort, when the father of the infant was found, wounded by the bursting of a bomb, and utterly un- able to succor himself He could not therefore but acquiesce with pleasure in the arrangements I had made for the security of his child, and I departed, accompanied by my English, under the safeguard of three grenadiers. After a march of two hours. painful though happy, we arrived at the quarter where the Cana- dians were posted. I cannot undertake to portray to you faith- fully the new occurrence which here crowned my enterprise, for MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 185 it is ouc of those events which a pcrsou flatters hiuisclf iu vuiu with the hope of presenting true to nature. We had scarcely reached the entrance of the camp, when a shrill and animated cry suddenly struck my ears. Was it a cry of grief ? or was it of joy ? It was all this, and much more, for it was that of the mother, who from a distance had recognized her child, so keen are the eyes of maternal love. She ran with a precipitation which showed that this was indeed her child. She snatched it from the arms of the English woman with an eagerness which seemed as if she feared that some one might a second time de- prive her of it. It is easy to imagine to what transports of joj she abandoned herself, particularly when she was assured of tlie life and the freedom of her husband, to whom she thought that she had bid a final adieu, Nothing was wanting to completo ;heir happiness but their reunion, and this I thought should bo the perfection of my work. I again directed my course back to the fort. My strength was scarcely sufficient to carry me thither, for it was more than an hour after the middle of the day, and I had not as yet taken any nourishment. I was therefore very near falling through faint- uess on m.y arrival there, but the politeness and charity of the French officers presently placed me in a condition to continue the ^■ood work. I went in search of the Englishman in question, but my i;?<|uiries were for some hours without success. The pain of his wounds had obliged him to retire to the most solitary place in the fort, and there I at last found him. I had made arrange- ments i-o have him carried away, when his wife and child again made their appearance. Orders had been given to collect all the English, who were dispersed in the different quarters, to tho number of nearly five hundred, and to conduct them to the fort, that we might provide more surely for their support until it should be possible to send them to Orange, as was happily done some days afterwards. The demonstrations of joy were renewed ' '^'m t ■ il " I Ml II, ij': '^■^'h m .,,v:ii pit- '^'^i ■■¥\ l:f M.t ;■■ :i' ''1 186 JESUITS IN AMERICA. at their meeting, with much more earnestness than before. Ex pressions of gratitude were not wanting to myself, not ouly on the part of those most interested, but again from the English offi- cers, who had the goodness to reiterate them more than once, As to their offers of service, I cared not for them except as show- ing the sentiments from which they had their origin. A person in my condition has no recompense to look for except from God alone. I should not here pass over in silence the reward of her chaiitj which the other English woman received, who had been obliged to act as mother to the child in the absence of the true mother. Pro- vidence, through the intervention of M. Picquet, brought about the recovery of her own child, which had been unjustly taken from her. I remained as yet for some days in the neighborhood of the fort, where my ministry was not unfruitful, both with re.spect to some prisoners, whose chains I was happy enough to break, and some French officers whose lives were threatened by the drunken- ness of the Indians, and to whose rescue I arrived when they wore in an extremity. Such have been the circumstances of this unfortunate cspedi- tion, which has brought di.sgrace on the valor of the Indians. after it had shone forth so brightly during the whole course of the siege, and has rendered their services burthensome to us. They, however, pretend to justify their conduct. The Abuakis in particular, on the ground of reprisals, alleging that more than once, even in the midst of peace, or during parleys, such as took place in the course of the past winter, their warriors had found their graves through treacherous attacks in the English forts of Acadia. I have neither the sources of information nor the knov:- ledge to enable me to judge a nation, who, although our enemy, has many claims to our respect. For the rest, I do not know that in the whole progress of this narrative, a single incident has MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. 19» been set forth by mo whose certainty they could with justice iin- peauh ; and still less can I persuade myself that malignity itself will be able to discover a single fact which could authorize the throwing back on the French nation the disgrace of this occur- rence. They had made the Indians agree to the terms of the capitu- lation ; could they take any course more surely to prevent its infraction ? They had assigned to the enemy, to protect their retreat, an escort of four hundred men, some of whom have even been the victims of a zeal too ardent in repressing the disorder ; were they able more efficaciously to prevent the breach of the treaty ? They have indeed since gone so far as to purcha,;e the English captives at great expcnce, and to procure them at a heavy ran- som from the hands of the savages, so that nearly four hundred are now at Quebec, ready to embark for Boston. Could they more sincerely repair the violation of this treaty ? These consid- erations seem to me not to admit of a reply. The Indians then alone arc responsible for this violation of the laws of nations. And it is to their insatiable ferocity and their lawlessness alone that we can attribute it. The news of this fatal execution spread through the English colonies, and caused such affliction and fear that a single savage dared to push his temerity so far as to go to take prisoners almost at the gates of Orange, without suffering any molestation either in his expedition or his retreat. Thus the enemy formed no enterprise against us during the days which followed the capture of the fort. Nothing, how- ever, could be more critical than the situation in which the French army then fo7.nd itself. The Indians, including even the Ab- nakis and the Nipistingues, had disappeared since the day of their unhappy expedition ; twelve hundred men were occupied in the destruction of the fort, and nearly a thousand were em- ployed in transporting the immense stores of provisions and m '^■■1 ■■a ■ •' m i I' ->:'! ■'m : I f 188 MH^f im '1.1 iiiwi Ffjifl '■ fc* JESUITS IN AMERICA. munitions of war of which we Lad become masters. Thoro scarcely remained ii handful to make li-jad against the encr.iy if ho had taken an offensive position. But his (Quietness funiisln;,! us the opportunity of consummating our work. Fori Oeorgo was destroyed and entirely deuiolislicd, and even the ruins were con- sumed by fire. It was only during this burning that we loanioil the greatness of the enemy's loss. The casemates and the sub- terranean passages were found to be filled with dead bodies. which, during several days, furnished new aliment to the activity of the flames. As to our loss, it consisted of twenty-one killcil, of whom three were Indians, and about twenty-five wounded. That was all. At last, on the Festival of the Assumption, I rc-cnterod nn- boat to return to 3Iontreal, at the season which is both the most rainy and the coldest. The voyage was only marked by a con- tinual succession of storms and tempests, which came near sinking one of our boats, and destroying the conductors. But our toils were well alleviated, not only by the company of the otlior Missionaries, but also by that of M. Fiesch, who was scut to Montreal in the capacity of hostage. This oflicer, a Swiss by birth, and formerly in the service of France, is one o^ the most honorable men that can be found. During his residence in tlio midst of the colony, he has served the nation to which lie i; bound with a fidelity worthy of all praise. Arrived at Montreal, I expected to take some necessary re- pose ; but the Indians there ,'o multiplied my duties, and wliieli yet were of a nature so little satisftictory, that I hastened my de- parture for my mission. ■ I had one reason, indeed, which more hurried me, that I might endeavor to discharge the promise I M made to the English officers, to spare no means in the settlement to induce the Indians to restore the rest of the prisoners. Aui it was full time that I took hold of this business. One of our Canadians who had escaped from prison in New England, was MONTCALM'S EXPEDITION. ISO loml iu his donunciatious of tho bad treatment which he had suf forcil there, and even reported that one of tho Abiiakis, taken in tliu action of M. do Dieskau, had during the winter perished from hunger in tho prisons at Orange, This news spread abroad would havo caused tho death of many innocent persons. I adopted tho course of burying it in a profound silence, which has favored tho departure of many of the English unjustly detained in slavery. Ciich is a faithful history of all the events which have marked the campaign which ha,, just ended. It has enabled you to seo ^ith satisfaction, that French valor has there sustained itself with honor, and has worked wonders. 13ut you have been able also to see that passions, ever tho same, produce everywhere the same ravages, and that our Indians, iu being Christians, are not iu this particular more irreprehcnsible in their conduct. Their wandering and vagabond life is one of the principal causes of their difficulties. Abandoned to themselves, and to the sway of their passions, without being even sustained by the aid of any formal service of their religion, during a greater part of the year they escape from the influence of the most active zeal which can be exerted in their behalf, and which condemned during this long term to the most sad inaction, is reduced to the necessity of being able to form in their favor nothing but good wishes, which almost always are futile and superfluous. Perhaps tho God of mercy will one day enlighten these unhappy beings, on tho dan- gers of their strange manner of life, and will fix their instability and wanderings. But if this be an event for which it is permitted to a Missionary to hope, it is not iu his power to bring it about. I have the honor to be, &c. ■''It .t" ; ;■; :.■["'?' *4- FA >.'i'3 :1 FATHER MAREST'S JOURNEYS THROUGH ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN. k" *»' t '■n i M' 1712. r I , J' LETTER VII. FROM FATHER GABRIEL MAREST,* MISSIONARY OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, TO FATHER GERMON OF THE SAME SOCIETY. At Cascaskias, an Illinois Village, otherwise called, ' Of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin,' the 9th of November, 1712. MY REVEREND FATHER, Ttie Peace of our Lord be loith you : I WISH I was able to give you such information with regard to our Missions, as would correspond with the idea which you have perhaps formed. The account which one hears all his days in Europe of those vast countries in the East, thickly sown with villages and settlements, where an innumerable multitude of idolaters present themselves in crowds to the zeal of the mission- ary, naturally leads him to believe that things are here in the same condition. Here, on the contrary, my Reverend Father, in a great extent of country, we scarcely find three or four vil- lages, Our life is passed in roaming through thick forests, in [* In 1694 Father Marest accompanied the expcLlition of the celebrated d'lberville, from Montreal to Hudson's Bay, with the force intended to capture the English forts at the latter place. The object of the enterprise euccecdcd and Marest commenced a mission to the neighboring Indians ■who Me buried in almost perpetual snows. His diary of the expedition and winter spent there is full of interest, and the writer had translated it for publication with these letters. The size of the volume however obliged him to omit it. In 1695 the forts were retaken by the English, and Father Marest was sent prisoner to Plymouth. We now find him, after a lapse of (erenteen years, laboring on the prairies of Illinois.] 10 i*^ , i\ ■■lfi.hf-: • ■ 1*1' -.i; . .. -. 'A-^i- ^'■//■Mt ■ lyJ,' l-.iisl ' ,;■ '"'ii KJ ' 'Mm ■^Mn ' ^"-li ■ ■ i'''^Lij I. '' dm '{■; P" In i r ■ 1 ? nll^i- i" I. ' ■ M 1 uii lilf '^st i|-''-i Ilif'J* lilttfl li'JliJM.'i 194 JESUITS IN AMERICA. ii' clambe?'ing over the mountains, in paddling the canoe across lakes and rivers, to catch a single poor savage who flies from us and whom we can tame neither by teachings nor by caresses. Noth'ng is more difficult than the conversion of these Indians • it is a miracle of the Lord's mercy. It is necessary first to trans- form them into men, and afterwards to labor to maK them Christians. As they are absolute masters of themselves, without being subject to any law, the independence in which they live -enslaves them to the most brutal passions. There are, however, chiefs among them, but they have no authority. If they should resort to threats, so far from making themselves feared, they would find themselves immediately abandoned by the very per- sons who had chosen them to i:heir office. They do not draw to themselves consideration and respect, except when they have, as they express it here, something to fill the kettle, that is, some- thing with which to give feasts to those who should obey them. It is this independence indeed which is the origin of all kinds of vices which rule them. They are lazy, treacherous, fickle and inconstant, deceitful, naturally thievish, so as even to glory in their address in stealing, brutal, without honor, without truth, ready to promise any thing for those who are liberal to them, but at the same time ungrateful and without thankfulness. The only effect produced by conferring a favor freely upon them, is to strengthen them in their natural arrogance ; it only renders them more insolent. '• He fears me," they say, " for he courts me." Thus, whatever good will one may have to oblige them, he is restrained, that he may force them to value any little ser- vices he may render them. Gluttony and the love of pleasure are above all those vices which are most prominent among our Indians. They become addicted to a most disgraceful habit of life, even before they are of sufficient ago to know the yhame which is attached to it. If you add to this the wandering life they pass in the i jrests in the FATHER MARESTS JOURNEYS. 195 p'lrsuit of wild beasts, you will easily agree that reason must be tatirely stupifled in this race, and that they are almost incapable of submitting themselves to the yoke of the Gospel. But the farther they are removed from the kingdom of God, so much the more should our zeal be animated to cause them to approach it, and to make them enter there. Persuaded that wo can do uotlung of ourselves, we know at the same time that all things arc possible through the aid of Him for whom we labor. Wo have even this advantage in the conversions which God has been will- ing to efifect through our ministry, that we are freed from all clanger of pride, or any reference we might make to ourselves. We cannot attribute these conversions, either to the forcible ar- ('unicnts of the Missionary, or to his eloquence, or to his other talents which might be useful in other countries, but can produce no impression on the minds of our Indians : we can render the glory to Him alone, who even of the stones knows how to make, when it pleases Him, children unto Abraham. Our Illinois dwell in a most delightful country. It is, never- tlieless, not as enchanting as it is represented to us by the author of the new relation of Southern America, which has appeared under the name of the Chevalier de Tonti. I have, however, heard it said by M. de Tonti himself, that he disowned the work, and that he recognized nothing of it but his own name upon the title-page.* .::i ■\i ! '^:i'v ''1,1 1 r [* Chevalier do Tonti was an Italian veteran, who as lieutenant to La Salle r.ocompanied him in all his expeditions through the West and South-West, ft'oui 1680 to the melancholy death of La Salle in 1G87. An apocraphal set of legends, full of geographical contradiction?*, was published under the till: — "Les devnii>res Docouvertes dans I'Ameriquc-Soptontrionalc de Ci'velier De l-r Salle, et les aventures de Chevalier Tonti. Gontilhommo Italicu, conipagnon de M. De la Salle, depuis 167S jusqu'en 1690: Paris, \()Ti? This is probably the work to which Father Mare^jt refers. Char- lovoi.x sooms in some cases to have copied its errors.] •ft.; ''T'li ''««i W:-'' 196 JESUITS IN AMERICA. , ',..1, -1 ^!;:-''*'V ' r ■ .ji • ;t'' 200 JESUITS IN AMERICA. It consists entirely in some superstitions with which their credi'- lity is amused. As all their knowledge is limited to an acfiunint. ancc with brutes, and to the necessities of life, it is to these thiiifrs also that all their worship is confined. Their medicine-men. wlio have a little more intellect than the rest, gain theii respect by their ability to deceive them. They persuade them that tbey hoaor a kind of Spirit, to whom they give the name of Manitou and teach them, that it is this Spirit which governs all tilings. and is master of life and of death. A bird, a buffalo, a boar, or rather the plumage of the birds, and the skin of these beasts, such is their Manitou. They hang it up in their wigwams, and offer to it sacrifices of dogs and other animals. The braves carry their Mamtous in a mat, and unceasing y iu- voke them to obtain the victory over their enemies. Their medi- cine-men have in like manner recourse to their Manitoiis wbcn they compose their remedies, or when they attempt to euro the diseased. They accompany their invocations with chants, and dances, and frightful contortions, to induce the belief that tliey are inspired by their Manitous ; and at the samo time thoy thus aggravate their diseases, so that they often cause death, Durln" these different contortions, the medicine-man names sometimes one animal, and sometimes another, and at last applies himself to suck that part of the body in which the sick person perceives the pain. After having done so for some time, he suddenly raises himself and throws out to him the tooth of a bear, or of some other animal, which he had kept concealed in his mouth. "Dear friend," he cries, "you will live. See what it was that was killing you." After which he says, in applauding himself— " Who can resist my Manitou ? Is he not the one who is the master of life ?•" If the patient happens to die, he immediately has some deceit ready prepared, to ascribe the death to some other cause which took place after he had left the sick man. But if on the contrary he should recover his health, it is then that fi 'i r.,-]i FATHER MAllEST'S JOURNEYS. 201 the luodiciiio-miiii rccoivos consideration, and is liimsclf regarded as a Manitou ; and after having well rewarded his labors, they procure the host that the village produces, to regale him. The influence which these kinds of jugglers have, places a great obytticle in the way of the conversion of the Indians, liy ciu- Itnichig Christianity they expose themselves to their insults and violence. It is only a month ago that a young Christian girl experienced this treatment. Holding a rosary in her hand she was passing before the wigwam of one of these impostors. He had imagined that the sight of a similar chapclet had caused the death of his father, and inspired therefore with fury, he took his ffim, and was on the point of firing at this poor neophyte, when he was arrested by some Indians who happened to be present. I cannot tell you how many times I have received the liko insults from them, nor how many times I should have expired under their blows, had it not been for the particular protection of God, who has preserved me from their fury. On one occasion, among others, one of them would have split my head with hi^' hatchet, had I not turned at the very time that his arm was raised to strike me, Thanks to God, our village is now purged from these impostors. The care which we have ourselves taken of the sick, the remedies we have given them, and which have generally produced a cure, have destroyed the credit and reputa- tion of these medicine-men, and forced them to go and establish themselves elsewhere. There are, however, some among them who arc not so entirely brutal, and with whom we can sometimes talk, and endeavor to disabuse them of the vain confidence they have in their Manitous: but it is not ordinarily with much success. A conversation which one of our Fathers had with one of these medicine-men, will enable you to understand the extent of their obstinacy on this point, and also what ought to be the condescension of a Mission 10* "HI ^.l' .1 {i m '4.- . ! i,Nvi: i"l». U' ■ife' 203 JESUITS IN AMERICA. ary, in attempting even to refute opinions as extraordinary as those with which tlicy arc here met. The French had established a fort on the river Ounbachu: they asked for a Missionary, and the Father Mermct was sent to them. This Father tlioiight that he should also labor for the conversion of the Masroulcns, who had formed a settlement on the banks of the same river, a tribe of Indians who understood the Illiuoi.s language, but whose extreme attachment to the superstitions of their medicine-men rendered tlieni exceedingly indisposed to listen to the instructions of the Missionary. The course which Father Mermet took, was to confound in their presence one of their medicine-men, who worshipped the buffiilo as his grand Manltou. After having insensibly led hau to confess that it was not by any means the bufllilo which ho \^•ol'- .^hipped, but a Manitou of the buffixlo, which is under the earth, which animates all the buffaloes, and which gives life to their sick ; he asked him whether the other beasts, as the bears, for example, which his comrades worshipped, were not equally animated by a Manitou which is under the earth. " Certainly," replied the medicino-man. " But if this be so," said the MLssiou- ary, " then men ought also to have a Mnnilou which animates them." " Nothing can be more certain," said the medicine -man. " That is sufficient for me," replied the Missionary, " to couvict you of having but little reason on your side ; for if man who is on the earth be the master of all the animals — if he kills them, if he cats them, then it is necessary that the Manitou which animates the men should also be the master of all the other Maiiilous. Where is, then, your wisdom, that you do not invoke him who is the master of all the others ?" This reasoning disconcerted the medicine-man, but this was the only effect which it produced, for they were not less attached than before to their ridiculous super- Btitions. At that same time a contagious disease desolated their village. F*"3»>!| FATHER MARE.ST.S JOURNEYS. 203 aud each day carried oil" luiiny of tlio Indians : the medicine mou theinselvehi were not .spared, iind died like the rest. The Mis- sionary thougiit that he wouhl be aLle to win their confidence l»y his attention to the care of the siiclj, and therefore applied him. solf to it without intermi.sision ; hut his zeal very often came near costing him his life. The services which he rendered to them were repayed only by outrages. Ther^ were even those who pro- ecetlcd to the extremity of discharging their arrows at him, but thoy fell at his feet ; it may be that they were fired by hands ffliicli were too feeble, or because God, who destined the 3Iissiou- aiy for other labors, had wished to withdraw him at that time from their fury. Father Mermet, however, was not deterred fiom conferring baptism on some of the Indians, wlio rcr[ucsted it with importunity, and who died a short time after they had received it. Nevertheless, their medieino-men removed to a short distance from the fort, to make a great sacrifice to their ManUou. They killed nearly forty dogs, which they carried on the tops of poles, ^iugiug, dancing, and making a thousand extravagant gestures. The mortality, however, did not cease, for all their sacrifices. The chief of the medlcinc-men then imagined that i\\iAv Maidloii.^ Iji'iiig less powerful tlian the Mdidlou of the French, was obliged to yield to him. In this persuasion he many times made a cir- cuit around the fort, crying out with all his strength, •■ We are dead; softly; Maniloi' of the French, strike softly, do not kill us ;ill,'' Then, addressing himself to the Missionary, •■ Cease, good ManiJoiij let us live ; you have life and death in your possession ; leave death, give us life." The Missionary calmed him, and promised to take even more care of the sick than he had hitherto done ; but notwithstanding all the care ho could bestow, more tliau half in the village died. To return to our Illinois ; they arc very different from these Indians, and also from what they formerly Avere themselves. ■ m 1 !31 B .'•M ^K* '*{tal ^^K ' '*'8K •M I * 11 Vf, '• ': il^ •••,. t '. ' t "■;ii I ** i I: \ in" ' 1 '"■^ ' 'y:4;'. J 1 V I. 204 JESUITS IN AMERICA. Christianity, as I have already said, has softened their eavftgc customs, and their nuumcra arc now marked by a sweetiie^^s and purity which have induced some of the French to take their daughters in marriage. \Vc find in them, moreover, a ilocility and ardor for the practice of Christian virtues. The following is the order we observe each day in our IMission ; — Early in the morning we assemble the cateehumens at the (church, where tlicy have prayers, they receive instruction, and chant some canticles. When they have retired. Mass is said, at which all the Christians assist, the men placed on one side and the women on the other then they have prayers, which are followed by giving them a homily, after which each one goes to his labor. Wc then ^ipeud our time in visiting tlie sick, to give them the necessary reiiudies, to instruct them, and to console those who arc laboring under any affliction. After noon the catechising is hold, at which all arc present. Christians and catechumens, men and children, young and old. and where each, without distinction of rank or age, answers the questions put by the Missionary. As these people have no books. and arc naturally indolent, they would shortly forget the princi- ples of religion, if the remembrance of them was not recalled by these almost continual instructions. Our visits to their wigwnrjs occupy the rest of the day. In the evening all assemble again at the Church, to listen to the instructions which arc given, to have prayers, and to sing some hymns. On Sundays and Festivals they add to the ordinary exercises, instructions which arc given after the Vespers, The zeal with which these good neophytes repair to the Churcli at all such hours is admirable : they break off from their labors, and run from a great distance to be there at the appointed time, They generally end the day by private meetings which they hold at their own residences, the men separately from the women, ami there they recite the chapelet with alternate choirs, and chant the FATIIKR ISIAURST'S JOURNEYS. &05 Ijyiuns, until tlio night is far advanced. Tlic'so liymns arc tlicii* l,,> 'i '■• ■■' i'i 1 brakes of the south. After descending below the Arkansas, pvcacliiug everywhere that they could make themselves understood the mysteries of their fiiith, they again ascended to Green Bay. Joliet returned to duoljec to announce his discovery, and Marquette remained preaching to the jMi- amis in the north of Illinois. The account of his death is thus given by Baucrot\ : " Two years after- wards, sailing from Chicago to Mackinaw, he entex'ed a little ri\er in Micli- igan. Erecting an altar, he said mass after the rites of tlie Catholic Church ; then begging the men who conducted the canoe to leave him alone ft>r half an hour, ' In the darkling wood. Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down, And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks And supplication.' " At the end of the half hour they went to seek him, and he was no more. The good missionary, discoverer of a world, had fallen asleep on the mar- gin of the stream that bears his name. Near its mouth the cauoemeu dug his grave in the sandP— Hist, of U. S., iii. IGLJ 7m FATHER MAREST'S JOURNEYS. 207 after their death remained in sole charge of all the toilsome duties of the mission, until the arrival of Father Mermct, My residence was formerly in the great village of the Pcoiianas, where Father Gravier, who had returned thither for the second time, received a wound which caused his death. We have during this year lost but few of our people. I regret however most deeply the removal of one of our instructers, whose life and death have been most edifying. We here call those mtrudcrs who in other missions are called catechists, because it is not in the Church, but in the wigwams that they instruct the catechumens and the new proselytes. There are in the same way instructresses also for the women and the young girls. Heury, (for such was the name of the instructor of whom I am speaking,) although of a very degraded family, had rendered himself respectable to every one by his great piety. He did not reside in our village more than seven or eight years, and before he came there had never seen a Missionary, or received even the first idea of Christianity. His conversion had in it something very singular. He was attacked with the small-pox, both himself and all his family. This disease swept off at first his wife and several of his children, leaving the others blind or extremely deformed, while he himself was reduced to the borders of the grave. When he thought that he had only a few moments longer to live, he imagined that he saw the Missionaries, who restored him to life, open to him the gate of Heaven, and urged him to cuter there. From that moment he began to grow better. Scarcely was he in a condition to walk, when he came to find us at our village, and earnestly prayed us to teach him the truths of religion. In proportion as we instructed him, he taught his children what he had retained of our lessons, and all the family were in a short time prepared to receive baptism. One of these children, entirely blind as he was, charmed us by the deep feel- ings of piety which we discovered in him. During the painful ill- I' !( >:' t '■i*i '.1' '■ 'if! ■;1! '1 ■ ',:>'i ', ■li' ?!■ ■'''■l^■ 5i '■ it ■ ;■■■■' '■. . '' ::ii ,■',., 'tit.: :i:H'^ u 208 JESUITS IN AMERICA. 1,1 1 ' m noss which for a long time afflicted him, his prayers were un- ceasing, and he died after some years in great innocence. His father, Henry, in the same manner endured the most severe tests. A long and grievous illness had the effect of purifying his virtue, and prepared him for a death which has seemed to us precious in the sight of God. It is only a short time since that I also conferred baptism on a young catechumen of seventeen years of age, who has much edified our Christians by her firmness and by her inviolable at- tachment to Christianity. The examples which she had at home were well calculated to lead her astray. The daughtei of a father and mother who were both idolaters, she found in her own family the greatest obstacles to the virtues which she practiced. To :ry her still more, a young libertine took a fancy to marry her, and omitted nothing which could induce her to consent to the union, even to the promise that he would become a Christian. The father and mother of our catechumen, who had been gained over by the young man, treated her with the greatest inhumanity to shake her constancy. Her brother even went so far as to threat- en that he would kill her, if she continued so obstinately to refuse her consent. But these menaces and this ill treatment produced no effect on her. All her comfort was in coming to the church, and she often said to me, " The death which thoy threaten does not at all terrify me, for I would willingly prefer it to the lot they propose to me. The young man whom they wish me to marry is a libertine, who has no thought of 'conversion. But even if these promises were given in sincerity, neither he nor any others should at all change the resolution which I have made. No, my father, I shall never have any other spouse than Jesus Christ." The persecution which she continued to receive in her family, was carried so far, that she was at last obliged to conceal herself at the residence of one of her relations who had become a Chris- o:!] ^ FATHER MARESTS JOURNEYS. 209 tian. There she was tried by different evils, which were not able to diminish her fervor ; and this is the more surprising as the least adversity is generally able to discourage these Indians. Having heard, some time afterwards, that her mother was in Jauger of losing her sight, by means of two cataracts which had formed over her eyes, this generous girl, forgetting the unworthy treatment she had received, immediately hastened to her assist- ance. Her tenderness and assiduous cares won the heart of her mother, and even gained her so far that she now accompanies her daughter to the church, where she seeks instruction, to prepare herself for the grace of baptism, for which she eagerly asks. As our Indians live on scarcely anything else but the smoked meat of animals which they kill in the chase, there are particular seasons in the year when they all quit the village and disperse themselves through the forests to hunt the wild beasts. This is a critical time, when they have more need than ever of the pres- ence of the missionary, who is obliged to accompany them in all their excursions. There are particularly two great hunts ; that of the summer, which scarcely lasts three weeks, and that which takes place du- ring the winter, which lasts four or five months. Although the summer hunt is the shortest, it is nevertheless the most painful, and it was this which cost the late Father Binetcau his life. He iViicwed the Indians during the most oppressive heats of the month of July. Sometimes he was in danger of being stifled in the midst of the tall grasses, and then suffered cruelly from thirst, not finding anywhere on the parched-up prairies, a single drop of water to relieve it. During the day he was drenched in perspiration, and at night was obliged to take his rest on the bare ground, exposed to the dews, to the injurious effects of the at- mosphere, and to many other miseries of which I cannot give you the detail. These fatigues produced in him a violent illness, of which he expired in my arms. 'vj 'it'. 1i i.-t m . ■ ■■•! ■ \ ■► ..it ' ■ ■., ■ -^ 'J \ ■"' ';'|l m I Ik'- 210 JESUITS IN AMERICA. \t <■" a! i ii in-tl I'liF- m- During the winter the Indians divide themselves into different companies, to search out the places where they think the "•amt will be most abundant. It is then that we feel the desire to be able to multiply ourselves, that we may not lose sight of them. The utmost that wf! can do, is to hasten in succession to the dif- ferent encampments where we find them, to strengthen them in their faith, and to administer to them the sacraments. Our vil- lage is the only one in which it would be permitted to any In- dians to remain behind during all these expeditions. Many raise poultry and hogs, after the example of the French who arc estab- lished there, and these for the most part excuse themselves from going to the hunting grounds. The Father Mermet, with whom I have had the happiress to be associated for many years, re- mains at the village for their instruction, the delicacy of his con- stitution placing it entirely out of his power to sustain the fatigues inseparable from these long journeys. Nevertheless, in spite of his feeble health, I can say that he is the soul of this mission. It is his virtue, his mildness, his touching instructions, and the singular talent he has of winning the respect and friendship of the Indians, which have placed our mission in its present flourish- ing state. For myself, who am so constituted that I can run on the snow with the rapidity with which a paddle is worked in a canoe, and who have, thanks to God, the strength necessary to endure all these toils, I roam through the forests with the rest of our Indians, much the greater part of whom pass a part of the win- ter in the chase. These expeditions, which it is necessary for us to make from time to time, sometimes to attend the Indians, and sometimes for other reasons important to the welfare of our Missions, are exceedingly painful. You can yourself judge of this by the de- tails of some which I have made during the last few years, and which will give you an idea of the manner in which journeys are performed by us in this country. If our missions are not as lilTcrcut le ganit re to be )f them, tlic dif- tliem in Our vil- I any In- any raise arc estab- Ives from itli wliom years, re- )f liis con- ic fatigues n spite of ,s mission, make from . sometimes issions. arc s "by tlic dc- ■ years, and journeys arc 5 are not as FATHER MAREST'S JOURNEYS. 211 flourlsliing as others in the great number of conversions, they are at least precious and useful by the toils and fatigues v/hicli arc inseparable from them. About twenty-five leagues from hence is the village of the Tamayouas. It is a mission which at first had been committed to Father Periet, whose zeal and labors God had blessed to such a degree, that I have been myself witness that his church was not able to contain the multitude of Indians, who resorted thither in crowds. This father had for his successor M. Bergier, a priest of the Seminary of Foreign Missions. Having learned that he was dangerously ill, I immediately repaired thither to his relief. I remained for eight whole days with this worthy ecclesiastic. The care which I took of him, and the remedies which I gave, seemed by degrees to restore him ; and this was so far the case, that thinking himself better, and knowing too how necessary was my presence at my mission, on account of the departure of the Indians, he urged me to return. Before I left him, by way of precaution, I gave him the holy sacrament, and he instructed me as to the affairs of his mission, recommending it to my care, in case that God should remove him. I charged the French who had care of the sick man, immediately to let us know if he should be in danger, and set out on the road to my mission. As there are but twenty-five leagues from one village to the other, a person need sleep but one night abroad, provided he can travel well. The food which he takes on the road, consists of some ears of corn and some pieces of smoked beef, which he car- ries with him. When hungry, he kindles a fire near a stream, which furnishes him with something to drink, and roasts his corn and meat, after which he lies down near the fire, turning himself sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other, accordingly as he feels the need of warmth. When I arrived at our village, almost all the Indians were gone. They were scattered along the Mississippi, and I immedi- it' -'J ;. t '■')^ ... .«■; ■I'iii ■ '.<\ !..«:! fWl'V < Of '^'5- 212 JESUITS IN AMERICA. ately resaincd my journey to go and join them. Scarcely had I advanced six leagues, ^vhen I found three wigwams, in one of which was an old man very ill. I confessed him, gave hini some remedies, and promised to come again to see him, judging that he had yet a number of days to live. Five or six leagues farther on, I found a great number of wig- wams, which made a kind of village, and therefore stopped there some days to perform my accustomed duties. In the absence of the missionary, they never by any means fail to assemble every day in one large wigwam, and there they have prayers, they rocito the chapclet, and chant the hymns, sometimes until the night i-i far advanced : and especially during the winter, when the nights are long, they pass a greater part of it in singing the praises of God. We always take care to appoint some one of our neopliytos, who is the most fervent and most respected, to preside over meet- ings of this kind. I had now remained for some time with these dear neophytes, when they came to inform me, that at eighteen leagues favthor off, in descending the Mississippi, there were some sick persons who had need of prompt succor. I therefore embarked at once in a jjj/rogue, that is, a kind of boat made of one largo tree, hol- lowed out to the length of forty feet, and very massivo. Tlie greatest difficulty is to ascend the river, but happily we had iu this case to descend, and as its rapidity here is equal to that of the Rhone, we accomplished the eighteen leagues in a single day, The sick persons were not in as pressing danger as hail bccu described to me, and I soon relieved them by my remedies. As they had there a church, and a large number of wigwams, I re- mained several days to animate the fervor of my neophytes by frequent instructions, and by a participation in the sacrameuts Our Indians have such confidence in the missionary who rulis them, that they discover to him with the most perfect openness of heart, everything which happens during his absence. Thus. ;^^i lyncopliytcs^jy lie sacraments mary wlio rulw erfect openness ibseucc. Thus. FATHER MAREST'S JOURNEYS. 213 when any disorder has taken place, or any one lias given occasion of scandal, the p^issionary having been informed of it, has it in his power to remedy the evil, and to prevent the unhappy conse- quences which otherwise might ensue. I was obliged to separate myself from my neophytes sooner than I wished. The good old man whom I had left so sick, and the illness of "M. Bergier, troubled me unceasingly, and rendered me very desirous to return to the village to learn the news. I accordingly again ascended the Mississippi, but the voyage was not accomplished without great fatigue. I had but one Indian with me, and his want of skill obliged me to row continually, or to labor in propelling our boat with the pole. At last, I arrived in sufficient time at the wigwam of this fervent Christian, who was dying. He confessed for the last time, and received the Holy Communion with the deepest feelings of piety, exhorting Ills son and all those who were about him, to live according to the rules of the Gospel, and to be steadfast even to their last breath in the faith which they had embraced. As soon as I had arrived at our village, I wished to go and see M. Bergier, but those who were there opposed it, alleging as a reason that no one had been sent with any news, as they had promised should be done in case he grew worse, and therefore they had no reason to doubt but that his health was re-estab- lished, I yielded to this reasoning, but a few days afterwards had cause for deep regret that I had not followed out my first design. A young slave arrived about two hours after mid-day, to inform us of his death, and request us to come and perform the funeral rites. I set out the very same hour. I had made about sis leagues, when night overtook me. and a heavy rain which followed pre- vented nic from taking some hours repose as I had intended. I tliereforc walked on till the dawn of day. when the weather hav- iiig somewhat cleared up, I lighted a fire to dry myself, and then continued my route. I arrived in the evening at the village, ■ '^1 ' -Si .1 .. ft' ■^s '', I ! .Js':::i 4 ■'• v;i *< wfasi!: 214 JESUITS IN AMERICA God having given me strength to accompliHli these twenty-five leagues in one day and one night. Early iu the morning of the next day I said mass for the deceased, and committed him to the earth. The death of M. Bergier was almost unexpected, according to the report made to me by the French who were with him. H^ himself perceived its sudden approach, and said that it would be useless to send for me, as he should be dead before my arrival, He only took the crucifix in his hands, which he afFcctiouately kissed, and then expired, lie was a Missionary of true merit and a most austere life. At the beginning of his Mission, ho had to sustain rude assaults on the part of the medicine-mcr, v;h taking advantage of the little knowledge he had of the laiiguai^e of these Indians, were able every day to entice from him some of the Christian converts, but at length he in his turn knew how to render himself feared by these impostors. His death was to them an occasion of triumph. They assembled around tlie cross which he had erected, and there invoked their Manitou, danciug, and each one assuming to himself the glory of having killed the Missionary ; after which they broke the cross into a thousand pieces. This is the information which some time afterwards I received with grief. I thought that such an outrage should not pass with impu- nity, and for this reason prayed the French ngt to conclude any treaty with them, until they had made reparation for the iusiilt which they had offered to our religion. This punishment had all the effect which I desired. The principal men of tlie village came twice, one after the other, to testify to me the sincere regret tliey felt for their fault, and they engaged me by this confcssioD to go from time to time to see them. But we must acknowledge, that a Missionary can produce little effect on the Indians, except he lives with them, and continually watches their conduct presej ■^fl^ FATHER MAREST'S JOURNEYS. 215 wcnty-five lug of tlio hiui to the ss with impu- coucliule any for tlic iusult uislimcnt liad of the village I sincere regret this confessioi! it aclmowlcdge, [ndians, except tlicir conduct. Without this, th(y soou forget the instructions ho hu.s given tlicm, and little by little return to their old disorders. It is this knowledge we have of thu inconstancy of tlic Indians, which in the course of time gave us so much uneasiness with re- gard to the state of our Mission among the Peuuaiias. The dis- tance of our own village, the largest there was in this (quarter, prevented us from making frec^uent excursions thither. And ksidcs this, the bad treatment they had given to the late Father Gravier, had obliged the Governors of Canada and of ^Mobile to forbid tlie French making a treaty with them. Many Christians indeed of that village had come to reside near us, but there were still many others remaining there, who not being sustained by the regular instructions^ would become unsteady in the faitli. At last, at the time wo were thinking of measures to re-estab- lish this Mission, we learned from some French who had made a treaty there secretly, that these Indians were very much h ambled by the destitution in which they had been left — that in raany en- gagements they had been beaten by their enemies, for the want of powder which the French had ceased to furnish them — that they appeared deeply touched at the unworthy manner in which they Ikul treated the Father Gravier, and that they now most earnestly a>ked for a Missionary. This news decided Father Mermet. Father de Ville and my- self, that wo should avail ourselves of the favorable disposition in which the Fcouarias then were, to re-establish our Mission on its old footing. And Providence opened a way which was perfectly I natural. It became necessary for one of us to make a journey to }MilUniaJdnac, that is, to a distance of more than three hundred •leagues from hence, to confer with Father Joseph ]Marest, my kother, on the affairs of our Missions, of which he is the Supe- irior, In making this journey we could not avoid passing by the village of the Peoiiarias, and there was reason to hope that the presence of a Missionary would determine them to renew the re- I ■.^■\ .,;■■ »«■ "1, l' ■ r" »! > quest tney had lately made, and the proofs of repentance they had given. Ah I was perfectly well acquainted with these Indians, Fatlici- Marmet and Father de Ville charged nic with the enterprise. I departed therefore on the Friday of Passion Week in tlic year 1711. One day was all the time 1 had to prepare for so long a journey, because I was hurried by two Pcoi/arias, who wished to return thither, and by whom it was convenient for me to ho ac- companied. Some other Indians went with us as far as the vil- lage of the Tamarouas, where I arrived the second day after ui'- departure. I set out again the next day, having nothing with me but my crucifix and breviary, and being accompanied only Ly the three Indians. Two of these Indians were not Chribtiau.^ and the third was as yet only a catechumen. I confess to you, my Reverend Fatlicr, that I was a little em- barrassed when I saw myself at the mercy of these three sav- ages, on whom I was scarcely able to depend. I represented to myself on the one hand, the fickleness of these people, that the first fimcy would perhaps induce them to abandon mc, or tbe fear of a hostile party would put them to flight at the least alarm. On the other hand, the horror of our forests, those vast uninhabited regions, where I should certainly perish if I was abandoned, presented itself to my mind, and almost took away all courage. But at last, reassuring myself by the testimony of my conscience, which told me within that I was only seekiD'^ God and his glory, I surrendered myself entirely to Provi- dence. Journeys which are made in this country should not be compared with those in Europe. There you find from time to time villages and towns, and houses in which you can rest, bridges or boats to cross the rivers, beaten paths wliich lead to your destination, and persons who can place you in the right way, if you have strayed. Here there is nothing of W^'Sf. m FAT[IER MAIIESTS JOUUNEYS: 217 tho kiutl, and \vc travelled for twelve days witliout ineetiug a single soul. At one time we found ourselves on jirairies which were boundless to our view, cut up }>y brooks and rivers, but without discovering any path which could guide us, and thou ugaiu it became necessary to open a passage through dense for- ests, in the midst of brushwood covered with thorns and briars, and at other times we had to cross marshes filled with mire, in which wo sometimes sank to the waist. After having been excessively fatigued during the day, wc were obliged to take our repose at night on the grass or on some branches, exposed to the wind, to the rain, and to the injurious cfTccts of the atmosphere. Wc were happy indeed if we found ourselves near some stream, but if not, no matter how dry wc were, the night passed without our being able to alleviate our tliirst. AVe kindled a fire, and when we had killed any game on our way, we roasted pieces of it, which we cat with some ears of Indian corn, if wc had any of them. Besides these inconveniences, common to all those who travel through these deserted lands, we had the addition also of hun- ger during the whole of our journey. It was not because we did not see great numbers of stags, and deer, and particularly of bufftiloes, but our Indians were not able to kill any. A ru- mor they had heard the day before our departure that the coun- try was infested by parties of the enemy, prevented them from carrying their guns, for fear of being discovered by the report when they fired, or of being embarrassed, if it should be neces- sary for them to seek safety in flight. Thus, they could use no- thing but their arrows, and the bufialocs which they hit, fled, car- rying with them the arrows by which they had been pierced, and went to die in some distant place. In all other things these poor people took great care' of me. They carried me on "their shoulders when it was necessary to cross any stream, and when we came to deep rivers, they collected 11 .!« I) . ; !l ' 'I n •' rl liifuJ 218 JESUITS IN AMERICA. 11 ■).; many pieces of dry wood which they tied t<»gother. 'iid iiiulvinir mo Hcat myself on this kind of hoat, thoy ti'uns|H)rtt done. As soon as one of these braves has killed his enemy, he dra^vs his knife, and cuts round the head, taking ofT the skin with tlic hair, which he carries in triumph to his village. There for some days he suspends this scalp in the top of hia wigwam, and all who are in the village come to congratulate him on his valor, and to bring him some presents to testify the interest they fool in liis victory. At times they content themselves with making pris- oners, but immediately tie their hands, and force them to run FATHER MAULSTS JOUILNEYS. 910 l,et<»ro thoni at full .s]»ooil, fur fear they may be pursued, as .soiue- tiiues liapitcuH, by the eoiupauiuiiM uf those they arc carrying ulV. The fate of these prisoners is very sad, fur often they burn them at a sluw fire, and, at other times, cook tlicm in their kettles to iiiakc a feast for all their warriors. During the first day of our departure wc found some traces of a party of these warriors. 1 could not but admire the sharp- sightoducss of our Indians. They showed me their tracks ou the grass, distinguished where they had set down, where they had walked, and what was their uumber. As for myself, after nar- rowly scrutinizing the place, I was unable to detect the slightest trace. It was a happy circumstance for mo that a i)anic did not seize them at this moment, as they would have left me entirely ulono in the midst of the woods. But a little while afterwards, I myself, without intending it, gave them a terrible fright. A swelling which I had in the feet made me walk slowly, and they had got a very little in advance of me, without my having paid uuy attention to it. I suddenly perceived that I was alone, and you may judge how great was my embarrassment. I immedi- ately began to call them, but they did not make me any answer ; I accordingly shouted louder, and they, not doubting but that I had fallen in with a party of warriors, freed themselves at once from their packets that they might be enabled to run more easily. I redoubled my cries, and their fear augmented more aud more. The two Indians who were idolaters now began to take to flight, but the catechumen, being ashamed to abandon me, drew a little nearer to sec what was the matter. When he had perceived that there was nothing to fear, he made a sign to his comrades : then, approaching me, he said in a trembling voice, •• You have given us a great fright : my companions have already fled, but as for me, I was resolved to die with you, rather than abandon you." This incident taught me to keep close to my •' i. ji ■4 ■I '■ ! .'L| I ! I ! ,1 'J ■ 'i * I, -i 1! 2S>0 JESUITS IN AMERICA. rcv^ Ji ir companions on the journey, and they, on their part, were more attentive not to separate themselves far from me. Nevertheless, the difficulty which I had in my feet constantly increased. At the beginning of the journey I had made some blisters which I neglected, persuading myself that by dint of walking I should harden myself to the fatigue. As the fear of meeting with parties of the enemy made us take long journeys, and we passed the night in the midst of brushwood and thickets, so that no foe could approach us without making himself heard ; as at Other times wt did not dare to light a fire for fear of being discovered, the fatigues we were obliged to undergo reduced me to a sad state. I could not walk except upon these sores, which so touched the Indians who accompanied me, that they formed the resolution of carrying me by turns. This service they rendered me during the two following days, but having reached the Illinois river, and not being more than twenty-five leagues from the Peouarias, I engaged one of my Indians to go on before, to give notice to the French of my arrival, and of the grievous situation in which I found myself I endeavored to advance a little during two days, dragging myself along as I best could, and being carried from time to time by the two Indians who had re- mained with me. On the third day. I saw a number of the French arrive at noon, who brought me a canoe and some refreshments. They were astonished to see how much I was drooping : it was the efiect of the long abstinence we had undergone, and of the pain I had felt in walking. They embarked me in their canoe, and as I had not the least inconvenience to suffer, the repose and good treatment I enjoyed, very soon reestablished me. It was, how- ever, more than ten days before I was able to bear my weight upon my feet. On the other hand I was much comforted by the steps which the Peouarias took. All the chiefs of the village came to salute 1. ' .' l?i .J ■• ■■& m FATHER MARESTS JOURNEYS. 23i me, giving evidence of the joy they had at seeing me, and con- juring me to forget their past faults, and to come and live with them. I answered these marks of friendship by reciprocal testi- monies of good will, and promised them to fix my residence in their midst, as soon as I had finished the business which called me to Michillimak'mac. After having remained fifteen days in the village of the Fcoua- rias, and being a little restored by the care which they had taken of me, I thought of continuing my route. I had hoped that the French, who returned thither about that time, would carry me with them even to the end of my journey ; but as the rain had not yet fallen, it was impossible for them to go by the way of the river. I therefore determined to cross to the river Saint Joseph, in the mission of the Fouteauiamis, which is under the direction of Father Chardon. In nine days time I accomplished this sec- ond journey, a distance of seventy leagues, making it partly on the river, which is full of currents, and partly in crossing by land. God preserved me in a most wonderful manner on this journey. A party of warriors hostile to the Illinois, came to make a descent upon some hunters within gunshot of the path on which I was. They killed one of them, and carried oif another to their village, that they might cook him in their kettles, and make of him a war-feast. As I approached the village of the Pouteaulamis^ the Lord vouchsafed to recompense me for all my pains, by one of those unexpected adventures, which He sometimes arranges for the consolation of His servants. The Indians, who where sowing their fields, having perceived me from a distance, hastened to give notice of my arrival to Father Chardon. He met me sud- denly, followed by another Jesuit. What an agreeable surprise, when in him I recognized my brother, who threw himself on my neck to embrace me ! Fifteen years had passed since we had separated, without the hope of ever seeing each other again. It ■■>M 't ' "bE m -i ■■(;[!. ■:m ■ '! !, f: .4^ '' i.l': •I, ;:'.'.,' ■■ 222 JESUITS IN AMERICA. lis i mm 'J If''" is true that I was on my way to join him, but MichllUmakinac was the place where our meeting should have been, and not a place more than a hundred leagues on this side of it. Without doubt, God had inspired him with the design of making at this time his visit to the Mission of Saint Joseph, to enable me in one moment to forget all my past fatigues. "VVe both blessed the divine mercy, which induced us to come from places so remote, to afford us a consolation which we felt more than we could ex- press. Father Chardon participated in the joy of this happy meeting., and showed us all those kind attentions which we could expect from his good will. After having remained eight days at the Mission of Saint Joseph, I embarked with my brother in his canoe, to repair to- gether to MicJiillimakinac. The voyage was very delightful to me, not only because I had the pleasure of being with a brother who is very dear, but also because it afforded me an opportuuity of profiting for a much longer time by his conversation and ex- ample. It is, as I have said, more than a hundred leagues from the Mission of St. Joseph to Michillimakinac. We go the whole length of Lake Michigan^ which on the maps has the name, with- out any authority, of the Lake of the Illinois^ since the Illinois do not at all dwell in its neighborhood. The stormy weather de- layed us, so that our voyage took seventeen days, though it is often accomplished in less than eight. Michillimakiiiac is situated between two great lakes, into which other lakes and many rivers empty. Tlierofore it is that this village is the ordinary resort of the French, the Indians, and almost all those engaged in the fur trade of the country. The soil there is far inferior to that among the Illinois. Durina' the greater part of the year one sees nothing but fish, and the waters which are so agreeable during the summer, render a resi- dence there dull and wearisome during the winter. The earth is FATHER MAREST'S JOURNEYS. 223 eutiiely covered with snow from All-Saints day* even to the mouth of May. The character of these Indians partakes of that of the climate uuder which they live. It is harsh and indocile. Religion among them does not take deep root as should be desired, and tlicre are hut few souls who from time to time give themselves truly to God, and console the missionary for all his pains. For myself, I could not but admire the patience with which my brother endured their failings, his sweetness under the trial of their caprices and their coarseness, his diligence in visiting them, iu teaching them, in arousing them from their indolence for the exercises of religion, his zeal and his love, capable of embracing tlioir hearts, if they had been less hard and more tractable ; and I said to myself, that success is not always the recompence of the toils of apostolic men, nor the measure of their merit. Having finished all our business during the two months that I remained with my brother, it became necessary for us to sepa- rate. As it was God who ordered this separation. He knew how to soften all its bitterness. I departed to rejoin Father Chardon, with whom I remained fifteen days. He is a missionary full of zeal, and who has a rare talent for acquiring languages. He is acipaintcd with almost all those of the Indians who are on these lakes, and has even learned that of the Illinois sufiiciently to make himself understood, although he has only seen some of those Indians accidentally, when they came to his village : for the Poukaulamis and the Illinois \b'Q in terms of friendship and visit each other from time to time. Their manners however are Yftry different ; those are brutal and gross, while these on the contrary are mild and affable. After having taken leave of the missionary, we ascended the River Saint-Joseph to where it was necessary to make a portage about thirty leagues from its mouth. The canoes which are used [* November 1st.] in V :. m % 'M. .'■'If ',.;! ' : ' .: Ill ;'-'i I'Mti pn'J'.ji' \'M. !■*' H! 224 JESUITS IN AMERICA. f« ' il. for navigation in this country are only of bark and very liglit although they carry as much as a large boat. When the canoe has carried us for a long time on the watci-, we in our turn carry it on the land to cross over to another river, and it was thus that we did in this place. We first transported all there was in the canoe towards the source of the river of the Illinois, which they call Hauklki, then we carried thither our canoe, and after havhif launched it, we embarked there to continue our route. o We were but two days in making this portage which is a league and a half in length. The abundant rains which had fallen during this sea son had swelled our little rivers, and freed us from the currents which we feared. At last we perceived our own agreeable country the savage buffaloes and herds of stags wandering on the borders of the river, and those who were in the canoe took some of them from time to time which served for our food. At the distance of some leagues from the village of the Pcoua- rias^ many of these Indians came to meet me, to form an escort to defend me from hostile parties of warriors who might be roam- ing through the forest, and when I approached the village, they sent forward one of their number to give notice of my arrival, The greater part ascended to the fort, which is situated on a rock on the banks of the river, and when I entered the village made a general discharge of their guns in sign of rejoicing. Their joy was indeed pictured plainly on their countenances, and shone forth in my presence. I was invited with the French and tlie Illinois chiefs to a feast which was given to us by the most dis- tinguished of the Pcoitarias. It was there that one of the prin- cipal chiefs addressed me in the name of the nation, testifying to mo the vivid grief they felt at the unworthy manner in which they had treated Father Gravier, and conjured me to forget it, to have pity on them and their children, and to open to them the gate of Heaven which they had closed against themselves. For myself, I returned thanks to God from the bottom of my FATHER MAREST'S JOURNEYS. ?.'25 heart, that I thus saw that accomplished which I had desired with the utmost ardor : I answered them in a few words, that I was toucliecl with their repentance, that I always regarded them as my clridren, and that after having made a short excursion to my misrfion, I should come to fix my residence in the midst of them, to aid them by my instructions to return into the way of salvation, from which they had perhaps wandered. At these words the chief uttered a loud cry of joy, and each one with emulation tes- tified his gratitude. During two days that I remained in the village, I said Mass in public, and discharged all the duties of a missionary. It was towards the end of August that I embarked to return to my mission of the Cascaskias, distant a hundred and fifty leagues from the village of the Peouarias. During the first day of our departure, we found a canoe of the Scioux, broken in some places, which had drifted away, and we saw an encampment of their warriors, where we judged by the view there were at least one hundred persons. We were justly alarmed, and on the point of returning to the village we had left, from which we were as yet but ten leagues distance. These Scioux are the most cruel of all the Indians, and we should have been lost if we had fallen into their hands. They are great warriors, but it is principally upon the water that they are formidable. They have only small canoes of bark made in the form of a gondola, and scarcely larger than the body of a man, for they cannot hold more than two or three at the most. They row on their knees, managing the oar now on one side and now on the other, that is, giving three or four strokes of the oar on the right side, and then as many on the left side, but with so much dexterity and swiftness, that their canoes seem to fly on the water. After having examined all things with attention, we concluded that these Indians had struck their intended blow and were retiring : we however kept on our guard, and advanced with 11* if,v *.ffijH| '! f ' '^^^m 'ffl ■t'M ) ^^^iS •im ]-'^^M • ■Vil •-rl 1 . '^ t 1\- \l "1 '• . ! *: ■ ;-i'M "\ ■ M\x.i: 1'!;; . nl- :|''h :V t' «■,■ , ,1 ;„ l-'i;'l( r 1 ' ' W .»; ' sr:.!i.' 226 JESUITS IN AMERICA. Id 'hH f. »',»./ V U. i^^'-' ' \f' great caution, that we might uot encounter them, But when we had once gained the Mississippi, we went on by dint of rowiuo' At List, on the 10th of September, I arrived at my dear mij-slou in perfect health, after five months' absence. I will not tell you of the joy which all felt at seeing us ; you can yourself well imagine that it was great on both sides. But wlion the question came to be settled with regard to keeping the prom- ise I had given the Peoiiarias^ to go and live with them the French and the Indians there opposed it, probably because they were accustomed to my ways, and were not pleased with the idea of a change. Father de Ville was therefore sent thither in my place. This Father, who had been but a short time with us, now makes it evident by his zeal, by the talent he has for wiLiiiiif the Indians, and by the progress he makes among them, that God had destined him to that mission, of which he did not think me worthy. "When I was returned to my mission, I blessed God for the favor with which he had loaded it during my absence. There had been that year an abundant harvest of wheat and Iiulicm corn. Besides the beauty of the place, we have also snlt spriDg.s in the neighborhood, which are of great use to us. Some cows have just been brought to us, which will render us the same ser- vices by their labor, that oxen ren.ler in France. The attempt has been made to tame the wild buffaloes, but alwaj's without .'Suc- cess. Mines of lead and of tin are not far from hence, and would perhaps be found to be extensive, as I said above, if some intelligent person should employ himself in exploring them, We are but thirty leagues distance from the Missouri or Pdd- tanoui. This is a large river which empties into the Miississippi, and they assert that it is of even greater length than that river It is at the source of this river that the best mines of the Span- iards are situated. "We are also very near the river Oimhache. which likewise empties itself below us into the Mississippi. By means ar mission FATHER MAREST'S JOURNEYS. 227 of this river one could easily trade with the Mlamis^ and with a (/reat nunibei; of other nations much more distant, for it extends even to the country of the Iroquois. All these advantages exceedingly favor the design which some Fiouchmen have formed of establishing themselves in our vil- lage. To inform you whether establishments of this kind will coutribute to the advantage of our religion, is a point which it would not be easy for me to settle. Should the French who come among us resemble those whom I have seen in other places, who edify our neophytes by their piety and by the regularity of their lives, nothing would be more comforting to us, or more use- ful to the progress of the Gospel. But if unhappily any of them should make a profession of licentiousness, or perhaps of irre- ligion, as it is to be feared, might take place in our mission, their pernicious example would make a deeper impression on the miuds of the Indians than all that we could say to preserve them from the same disorders. They would not fail to reproach us, as they have already done in some places, that we take advan- tage of the facility with which they believe us, that the laws of Christianity are not as severe as we represent them to be, since it is not to be credited that persons as enlightened as the French, and brought up in the bosom of religion, would be willing to rush to their own destruction, and precipitate themselves into hell, if it were true that such and such an action merited a pun- ishment so terrible. All the reasoning which the missionary could oppose to this impression produced by evil example, would have no influence over the minds of a people, who are scarcely touched except by what strikes the senses. Therefore, my Kev- creud Father, aid me to pray the Lord that He will render my apprehensions unfounded, and that He will continue to pour out His blessings on my feeble labors. I commend myself to your holy prayers, and am with respect, &o. P. Gabriel Marest, Missionary. ''' 4<89 I i,iii „ ■•,,1'! : -M ■\>'.v '.5"t'i)l '■ , i : H "•It/ ■ 'Mxf "' '.v\ ■;:•■! '.IH. I f! f;lfc IKE .■ •:■■ 898 JESUITS IN AMERICA. [The fears of Father Marcst with regard to the Mission were fully realized. The French who settled there soon degenerated, and graduully assimilated their manners to those of the Indians among whom they lived while the evil of their example was of course felt by the Christian Indians until it became at last ruinous to the Mission.] F !i«(.ll|i|fi*!ll,l I J 1 :M ''.■•! ■ VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 1727. I' ' li ' f ■ ' ;':,|4 .■it : i ;■ •ml*'! "II J'i .,„ ,, .... t ■ ■■■ , ■ r I ♦'■ if I. ■■ .■ I II l' . 'WW 'I if' i' I'M LETTER VIII. , Vji FROBI FATHER DU POISSON, MISSIONARY TO THE AKENSAS, TO FATHER * * * Have you no desire, my clear Friend, to receive some informa- tion with regard to the world, which, while it has the least possi- ble claim to be considered as curious, yet costs the most to acquire by experience ? I refer to the manner of a voyage on the Missis- dppi — the character of this country, so extolled, and also so de- cried at this time in Franco — and the nature of the people who are to he found here. There is nothing else indeed about which lean write you at present ; if, therefore, the relation I am going to give of our voyage is not interesting, you must ascribe it to the country ; if it should prove too long, you must refer it to the great desire I feel of keeping up my intercourse with you. During our stay at New Orleans, we had seen peace and good order re-established through the care and wisdom of the new Commander-General. There were two parties among those at the Lead of affairs. They called the one, the Great Company, and the other the Little Company. These divisions are now broken up, and there is every reason to hope that the Colony will be re-established on a more solid foundation tlian ever. But whatever might happen, we expected each day the arrival of the Gironde^ on board of which were Fathers Tartarin, Doutrcleau, one of our brethren, and some nuns. This it was which induced u^ to hasten our departure, that we might spare the Reverend Father de Beaubois an increase of embarrassment, although this 1, 1 Q3', JESUITS IN AMERICA. i V si' ' was a bad season for a voyage up the Mississippi, besides, tlij-; Father had on his hands brother Simon, who with some boat- men had descended from the Illinois country, and had been wait- iug for us for four or five months. Simon is a proselyte of the mis- sion among the Illinois, and the boatmen here are persons wiio arc engaged to row in the pirogue or boat, and we may also add, to try the patience of those whom they conduct. ' We embarked then on the 25th of May, 1727, the Fathers Souel and Dumas with myself, under the direction of the good man Simon. The Fathers de Guieunc and Ic Petit, being obliged in a few days to take a difiereut route ; the former, as you know, to the Alibamons^ and the latter to the Chasses. Ouj* Lai^- gage and that of our boatmen occupied a space, which filled up our two boats to more than a foot above the sides. Wc were perched up on a heap of chests and packages, without being able even to change our position, and it had already been prophesied to us that wc could not go far with this eijuipagc, In ascending the Mississippi wc coast along by the shore in eonsccjueuce of the force of the current. We had scarcely lost sight of Now Or- leans, when a projecting branch which had not been noticed ly our helmsman, caught in a chest, overturned it, caused it to mako a somerset upon a young man who was near, and rudely struck Father Souel, Fortunately it broke in tiiis first effort, or hutli the chest and the young man would have been in the river. This accident decided us, when we arrived at Chapitulas, about three leagues distance from New Orleans, to despatch some ooo to Father de Beaubois, to ask him for a much larger boat. During all this time wc were among old acquaintances. The [* Throughout this letter Father du Poisson seems fbnd of a play upon words, the point of which it is impossible to convey in a translation. We give, therefore, the French : — " On appelle ici engages des gens qui so louent pour ramer ct I'on pourroit ajouter, pour foire enniger ceux qu'ils conduisent."] idos, till-; luc \)oat- iceu wait- f tlic mis- rsous wli') r also add, ing oUigcd Lcr, as you Ou!" liaj^- Lcli filled up We NYcre it Ijeiug able u proplicsiod In asceudiuiJ iseiiueucc of t of New Or- u noticed by icd it to mulio rudely struck jetYort, or botli |e river. This s, about tliree |i some one to boat, .utanccs. Tlio ll of a play upon Itranslatioii. \Ve 1 dcs gens q^^i ^^' |fairee/i/-rtir«^cc« VOYAGE UP THE MlSSISSim. 233 larbarous naino which tlio country hears, ssliow.s that it ha.s bceu in utlier times inhahltcd by savages, and at jire.sent they apply this title to five grants which are along the MissisHlppi. M. Da- brcuil, a Parisian, received us into his. Tlic next three ])elong to three Canadian brothers, who came into the country to settle, wltli nothing but the clothes ou tlieir back and the stick in tiieir baud, but who have more advanced tlieir fortunes than the grantees ill France, who have scut out millious to establish their grauts, which at the present time are for the most part ruined.* The fifth belongs to M. de Koli, a Swiss by birth, Seigneur of the Manor of Livry, near Paris, one of the most honorable men that can be found. Tic had come over in the same ship with us, to see for liiiiiseli^ tlic condition of his grant, for which he had fitted out >liips, and subjected himself to endless expenses. There are in each of these grants at least sixty negroes, who cultivate Indian corn, rice, indigo, and tobacco. These are the parts of the colony which arc most flourishing. I now am speaking to you of a grant ; I shall also have occasion presently to speak of a planta- tion and a settlement. You perhaps do not know what all tlieso arc; have patience then to read the explanation. They call a Grant a certain extent of territory graatal by the ludia Company to one person alone, or to many who have formed together a partnership to clear the lands and make them valua- ble. These were the persons, who in the days of the great Mis- siwippi bubblcf were called the Counts and the Marquises of [* Another play tipon words, which he has marked in Italics, that it may not escape the reader — " Qui ont envoyo dcs millions t^owv fonder leurs con- toisions qui soat fondues a. present pour la plupart."] [t This allusion was well understood in 1727. It refers to the Mississippi Hliemc of Law, the celebrated financial adventurer, who, in 171G, established Ills b:mk in Paris under the patronage of the Duke of Orlean.s. It had annexed to it a Mississippi Company, which had grants of land in Louisiana, f.n(l was expected to realize immense sums by planting and commerce. In 1718 it was declared a Royal Bank, and such was the extent of its business 1 ""m O.H r II *i f ui iM 234 JESUITS IN AMERICA. Mississippi. Thus the grantees are the aristocracy of this country. The greater part have never left Franco, hut have equipped shipis filled with directors, stewards, storekeepers, clerks, workmen of diflferent trades, provisions and goods of all kinds. Their business was, to penetrate into the woods, to build their cabins there, to make choice of lands, and to burn the canes and trees. These beginnings seemed too hard to people not accus- tomed to such kind of labor ; the directors and their subalterns for the most part amused themselves in places where there were some French already settled ; there they consumed their pro- visions, and the work was scarcely commenced before the grant was entirely ruined. The workman badly paid, or badly fed, refused to labor, or else seized on his own pay, and the stores were plundered. Was not all this perfectly French ? But tliis was in part the obstacle which has prevented the country from being settled, as it should have been, after the prodigious expense which has been lavished upon it. They call a Plantation a smaller portion of land granted by the company. A man with his wife, or his associate, clears a small section, builds him a house with four forked sticks, which he covers with bark, plants some corn and rice for his food ; another year and funds, that the shares n se to twenty times their original value. All France was seized with a ' ige for gambling, and bappy were they t\1io could acquire this imaginary wealth by entirely stripping themselves of all their real property. In 1720 Law was made Comptroller-General of the finances, and regarded as the Plutus of France, saw clients of all ranks at his Icvec, which rendered him proud and insolent in proportion. At leiigtii the baseless fabric of this prosperity began to give way, and the shares sunk in value as rapidly as they had risen. Law was obliged to resign his post. after having held it only five months, and for personal safety lease tlie kingdom. He took with him but a remnant of his once immense fortune, and died in obscurity at Venice in 1729. Gorionh Biog. Diet. The history of L<}\v'3 own grant in Louisiana will be found in the next letter of tliis volume.] .-■^jEij3SKai~>-. .•.!| J-b VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 235 he raises more provisions, and begins a plantation of toLacco, and if finally he attains to the possession of three or four negroes, be- hold the extent to which he can reach. This is what they call a ^lanlalioii and a planter. But how many are as wretched as when they commenced ? Tliey call a Settlement, a section in which there are many plantations not far distant from each other, forming a kind of village. Besides those grantees and planters, there are also in this country, people who have no other business than that of vagabond- izing. 1st, Women and girls taken from the hospitals of Paris, from Salpetriere, or from other places of equally good reputa- tion, who find the laws of marriage too strict, and the care of a single household too troublesome. Voyages of four hundred leagues present nothing to terrify these heroines ; I have met with two of them, whose adventures would furnish materials for a romance. 2d, The voyagers ; these are for the most part young people sent for some reason to Mississippi by their parents or by justice, and who, finding it too low to dig the earth, prefer en- gaging themselves as rowers, and wandering about from one shore to the other. 3d, The hunters ; these at the end of the summer ascend the Mississippi to the distance of two or three hundred leagues to the buiSfalo country ; they dry in the sun the flesh on the ribs of the buffaloes, salt the rest, and also make bear's oil. Towards spring they descend, and thus furnish provisions to the Colony. The country which extends from New Orleans even to this place, renders this business necessary, because it is not suf- ficieutly inhabited, or enough cleared to raise cattle there. At the distance of only thirty leagues from here they begin to find the buffaloes, and they are in herds on the prairies or by the rivers. During the past year a Canadian came down to New Orleans with four hundred and eighty tongues of bufi'aloes he j i w. ! \ 1 r4: 1 ■ a- • .i ■,H ]'f. 1 : ■ 1" .:■•:,;,! -■■*: ■ \ :•(!'. 230 JESUITS IN AMERICA. iltl *^' jt'V*- f ^ had killed during his winter campaign with the aid of only one associate. We left the Chapitoulas on the 29th. Although we had sent for a much larger boat, and in spite of the new stowing which our people made, we were almost as much crowded as before. ,\'e had but two leagues to make that day, to reach Burnt Canci* the residence of M. de Benac, director of the grant of M. d'Ar- tagnan, where we were to sleep. He received us in a very friendly manner, and regaled us with a carp from the waters of the Mississippi, which weighed thirty-five pounds. The BunU Canes is the name given to two or three grants along the Missis- sippi ; the place is very much like the Chapitoulas^ while the situation appears to me to be more beautiful. The next day we advanced six leagues, which is about as much as they can ever accomplish in ascending the river, and we slept, or rather encamped at the Gcrmans.\ These are the quarters assigned to the lingering remnant of that company of Gennans who had died of misery, some at the East, and some on arriving in Louisiana. I Great poverty is visible in their dwellings. It is here properly that we begin to learn what it is to voyage on the Mississippi, and I am going to give you a little idea of it. so that I shall not be obliged to repeat the same thing every day. We had set out at the season of the heavy floods, when the river had risen more than forty feet above its ordinary level, and as almost all the country is composed of low lands, it was of course inundated. Thus we were exposed to the difficulty of not finding cabanage^ that is to say, ground on which to do our cook- ing and to sleep. When we could find it we slept in this way If the ground was still muddy, as was the case when the water v.i'* a WB *j^ '.■ ^' ■■ ak W ■ *■ , \ ^ k [* Cannes bruldcs.] [t Aux Allemauds.] [X Some further account of those Germans is given in tlie next letter. Tlioy were a portion of tlie settlers brought out for Law's grant, but did not arriv-. until after his fall, when they were sutl'ered to die from want.] VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 237 ' 1^' began to subside, tliey commenced by making a couch of branches, that the mattress might not rest on the mud. Thou they spread upon the earth a skin, or a mattress, and clothes, if they had them. They bent three or four canes into a semicircle, both en of which they fixed in the earth, and placed them at proper distances from each other, according to the length of the mattress ; on these they fiisten three others crosswise, and then spread over this slight framework the balrc, that is, a large cloth, the ends of which they fold under the mattress with great care. It is under these tombs, where we are stifled with heat, that we are obliged to sleep. The first thing we do on reaching laud, is to arrange our bairc with all diligence, for otherwise the musciuitoes do not permit us to use it. If one could sleep in the open air, he could enjoy the coolness of the night, and would be too happy. There is much more cause of complaint when no cahauage can be found. Then they tie the boat to a tree. If they can find a raft of trees, they do their cooking on top of it, but if not, we go to sleep without supper, or rather we neither sup at all nor sleep at all, since we are resting in the same situation in which we were during the day, with the addition of being exposed through the whole night to the fury of the musquitoes. By the way, what is here called a raft is a collection of floating trees which the flood has uprooted : the current continually sweeping them down, they are finally arrested by some tree whose root is in the ground, or ))}' a neck of laud, and there accumulate one upon the other, and form enormous piles. We have found some which would furnish the whole of your good city of Tours with wood for three winters. These places are difficult and dangerous to pass. It is necessary to sail close to these rafts'; the current there is rapid, and if it dashes the boat against the floating trees, it disappears at once, and is swallowed up in the waters under the raft. It was also the season of the most excessive heats which in- creased each day. During tlie whole voyage we had but a single 4!" ■■ if il ■- It ' I;' "ill ■!. ': m .K" 238 JESUITS IN AMERICA. '■• ('Li! ^( I ft. 14* ^^i |!!5 entire day of cloudy weather, always the burning sun upon our heads, without being able even to use over our boats a small awn- ing which might afford us a little shade. Besides, the height of the trees and the densencss of the woods, which through all the route, are en both banks of the river, did not permit us to feel the least breath of wind. Although the river is a half league in breadth, the breeze does not make itself felt except in the middle of the stream, and it is necessary to cross it, to catch the slightest breath of air. "We drew up, without cessation, the water of the Mississippi through reeds, to quench our thirst, and although it is very turbid, we experienced no ill effect. Another refreshment we had, was from the grapes hanging almost everywhere from the trees, and we snatched them in passing, or gathered them when we landed. There are in this country, at least among the Akensas, two kinds of grapes, of which the one ripens in summer. and the other in autumn. They are of the same species ; the grapes themselves are very small, and they afford a juice wliicli is very thick. There is also anotlier kind, the cluster of which has but three grapes, which are as large as the damask plum, Our Indians call them asi, contai raisin^ j^rune. Our stock of provisions consisted of biscuit, butter which was salt and very rancid, rice, corn, and peas. The biscuit gave out when we were a little above Natchez. Our butter was gone when we were only ten or twelve leagues distant from New Or- leans ; we therefore fed on the peas, and afterwards on the rice, which did not fail until our arrival at this place. The seasoning consisted of salt, bear's oil, and a particularly good appetite. The most ordinary food of this country, almost the only food of r.iany persons, and above all of the voyagers, is the gru. They bruise the corn to remove the outer skin, boil it for a long time in water, the French sometimes seasoning it with oil, and this constitutes the gru. The Indians pound the corn very fine, cook it sometimes with fat. but oftcuer with water only, and this is ■r'm VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 239 )on our ill awn- iiglit of all the 3 to feel iaguc in ; middle sliglitest jr of tliG liougli it rcslimcut ero fnm •ed tlicni nong tlie summer, }cies ; tlic ice wliicli of wliicli isk plum. ^vliicli was gave out was gone New Gr- ille rice, seasoning appetite. ly food of rii. Tlicy long time 1, and this fine, cook md tliis is i the sagamite. The gru^ indeed, is used instead of bread ; a spoonful of grit and a small piece of meat are taken together. But the greatest torment, in comparison with which all the rest would be but sport, which passes all belief, and has never been even imagined in France, still less actually experienced, is that of the musquitoes — the cruel persecution of the musquitoes. The plague of Egypt, I think, was not more cruel — Dimitlam in ie et in servos tuos et in populum tuum ct in domos tuas omne genus muscarum et implebiintcr domus JEgyptiorum diversi generis et uni- versa terra in qua fuerint* They have here the /ra/^c d^abord^ and also the hrulots. The latter is a species of very small gnat, whose sting is so sharp, or rather so burning, that it seems as if a spark of fire had fallen on the spot. There are also the mom tiques, which are like the hrulots, with the exception that they are much smaller, so that one can with difficulty see them ; their attacks are particularly directed against the eyes. There are also the gu^pes, and the thons ; in one word, there are om7ie genus muscaru7)i.\ But none of tliese others are worthy to be mentioned with the musquitoes. This little insect has caused more swearing since the French have been in Mississippi, than had previously taken place in all the rest of the world. Whatever else may happen, a swarm of these musquitoes embark in the morning with the voy- ager. "When they pass among the willows or near the canes, as very often takes place, a new swarm fastens with fury on the boat, and never quits it. It is necessary to keep the handker- chief in continual exercise, and this scarcely frightens them. They make a short circuit, and return immediately to the attack. [* Exodug viii. 2S. I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy sorvauts, and upon thy people, and into thy houses ; and the houses of the Egyptians *hall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.] [t Every kind of fly.] ■ r:^§ ■ '>'T :'M :•;>' m it 1 ■J'; ^'1' '*■■■ ■ 'il*.' ! ;!■' i I ■ • It • ■■'Hi 240 JESUITS IN AMERICA. iiilr The arms become weary much sooner than they do. vVhcu we land to take dinner, which is between ten o'clock and two or three, there is an entire army to be combattod. We make a boucanc, that is, a great fire, which we stifle afterwards with green branches. But it is necessary for us to place ourselves in the very thickest of the smoke, if we wish to escape the persecution; and I do not know which is worse, the remedy or the evil. After dinner we wish to take a short nap at the foot of a tree, but that is absolutely impossible ; the time allotted to repose is passed in contending with the musquitoes. We embark again in their company, and at sunset, on landing, it is necessary immediately to run to cut canes, wood, ai^d green branches, to make the bain^ the fire for cooking, and the boucanc. There, it is each one for himself, but it is not one army, but many armies which wo have to combat, for that time of day belongs to the musquitoes. One is perfectly eaten and devoured. They get into the mouth, the nostrils, and the ears ; the face, the hands, the body arc all covered ; their sting penetrates the dress, and leaves a red mark on the flesh, which swells on those who are not as yet inured to their bite. Chicagon, to enable some of his nation to compre- hend what a multitude of French he had seen, told them, that he had beheld " as many in the great village" (at Paris) " as there were boughs on the trees, and musquitoes in the woodsJ^ After having supped in haste, we are impatient to bury ouiselves under the hairc^ although we know that we go there to be stifled with the heat. With what address, with what skill does each one glide under his baire! But they always find that some have entered with them, and one or two are sufficient to insure a mis- erable night. Such are the inconveniences of a voyage on the Mississippi. And yet how many voyagers endure them all for the prospect of a gain even the most moderate ! There was in a boat which ascended at the same time with our own, one of those heroines of •y\ ^ VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 241 vLom I liavc alrcaly spoken, wlio was going to rejoin licr hero. r-'ie dul nothing but chatter, hiugli, and siiig. And if for a little ipiii|)iiral Ler.efit, if even for crime itself, one can endure a voyage like this, should men fear it who are appointed to labor for the .:ihation of souls ! I return to my journal. On the 31st, we made seven leagues. Ill the evening, no cahanage. AVater and biscuit for supper — jlept in the boat — devoured by the mus(|uitoes through the night. Xi/f. — This was the Vigil of Whitsunday, a fiist-day. The 1st of June we arrived at Oumas, a French plantation, wlicre wc found enough ground not overflowed to erect our wbius. We remained there during the next day to give rc.^t to our crew. In the evening, Father Dumas and I embarked in ca kit which during the night was to go the same distance wo should otherwise have to accomplish on the next day. By this uieaus we avoided the intense heat. Ou the ord we arrived, early in the morning indeed, at Bij/agoulas (the destroyed nation), at the house of M. du Buis- s'jii. director of the grant of the Messieurs Paris. Here w'o 1 mid some beds, which we had almost forgotten how to use, and lui'iiig the morning took that repose which the niusi|uitoes had I L'jt permitted us to gain during the night. M. du Buissou .uiitted nothing which could add to our comfort, and regaled us with a wild turkey. (This is in every respect like the domestic turkey, except that the taste is finer.) The grant appeared to us Tall arrauged and in a good condition. It would have been worth iiill more if it had always had as good a director. Our people iii'iivcd in the evening, and the nest day wc left the Ba//agaulas, clicarmed with the pleasant manners and civilities of M. du Buissou. Framboise, Chief of the Sitl/iiaclias, who had been a slave to M, do Bienville, had come hither to see us, and had invited us to = 13 ' ^'^ "',1 tribe to New Orleans to chant the calumet before the new Gov- ernor. This gave occasion to an adventure, which we were Mad to get through with, and the recital of which you will perhaps be eCj^ually glad to get through reading ; but iC'wqwiic^ I will irivL it you. The inundation had obliged the Situnachas to penetrate dcoiily into the wood, and we therefore fired oft" a gun to announce our arrival. The sound of a gun in the woods of Mississippi i.s lihc a clap of thunder, and immediately afterwards a little Imliau presented himself before us. We had a young man with us who I was acquainted with the language ; he therefore questioned him, and told us in reply, that the little Indian was sent to conduct us, and that the village was not far distant. It is nccc!^«l^y to observe, in passing, that this young man had an excellent appe- tite, and that he was well aware we should not be able to do any cooldng where we then were, on account of the water. Trusting to his word we set out in an Indian boat which happened to be there, the child guiding us. We had not gone fiir when the water fur our boat failed, and there was scarcely anything but mud. Our people, who assured us that it was only a step, pushed 1 on the boat by main strength, encouraged by the hope of their anticipated feast with Framboise, but at last we came to nothing but prostrate trees, mud, and deep holes filled with stagnant water. The little Indian here left us and disappeared in a' moment. What were we to do in these woods without a guide ] Father Souel sprang into the water, and we followed him. Il was certainly pleasant to see us floundering among the rocks and brambles, and in the water up to our knees. Our greatest diffi- culty was to withdraw our shoes from the mud. At last, well bemired and quite exhausted, we arrived at the settlement, Avhich was distant from the river more than half a league. Framboise was surprised at our arrival, and coldly remarked, that he had nothing. In this incident we recognized the traits of an Indian. : J A} VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 213 Our interpreter had deceived us, fur Frauibuise had not sent to liiul u,s ; he had not expected us, and had thouglit that he risked nothing by inviting us, being persuaded that the inundation '.voukl prevent our getting to his residence. Whatever might liuppcn, we were obliged to sound a speedy retreat and without a guide. After wandering a little, we found again tlie Indian boat; stowed ourselves within it, and regained our own p« ople as we best could. Those who had remained amused themselves with our appearance and our adventure ; and never did we have so much laughter, or rather it is the only time that we had any thing to laugh about. As I said before, there was no ground on which to do our cooking, and it was necessary to content our- seh'cs with a piece of biscuit. In the evening we arrived at a spot above the Ma/ichat, a branch of the Mississippi which empties into the Lake Maurepas ; no ground for cooking — no eabanage — millions of musi^uitocs during the niglit. Second note. This was a fast-day ; the waters began to fall, which gave us reason to hope that we should not be obliged to sleep jnuch more iu the boat. The SUimachas dwelt at the lower end of the river in the early days of the colony, but having at that time killed M. de Saint- Come, a Missionary, M. de Bienville, who commanded for the king, revenged his death. The map of Mississippi incorrectly places the nation of the Sitimachas, which is not the only fault we find there. After this little criticism on Mississippian eru- dition, I return to our voyage. Oa the 4th we slept at Baton-Rouge. This place receives its "ame from a tree painted red by the Indians, and which serves iis a boundary for the hunting grounds of the nations who are abo^'G and below. We saw there the remains of a French plan- tation, abandoned on account of the deer, the rabbits, the wild-cats, and the bears, which ravaged everything. Four of our people :;^ii ' 4 ft i ,' '■'W r 244 JESUITS LV AMERICA. went on a hunting cxpctlition, and returned next day without any oilier game than an owl. On the 7th we dined at the grant of M. Mezicrcs: it has the air of a phiutation which is just conunencing. We saw there oinj hovel, some negroes, and a single lal)t)rer, who did us neither good nor ill. We cabined for the night at i*o////- 6V//^yc''', hcfurc the house of a planter, who received us with great attention, The rain detained us there next morning, and permitted us du- ring the whole day to make l)ut a single league, as fiir as the re- sidence of another planter, llis house, which was constiueted from four forked sticks, gave us, for better and for worse, a hliel- ter from a frightful storm. How much need have these poor people of consolation, both spiritual and temporal ! On the 0th we had scarcely embarked when there came from the woods a most execrable odor. Tliey told us tliat it pro- ceeded from an animal close on shore, which they called hHc pu. (iiilc and which .spreads tliis disagreeable smell e\ery where aljout it. AYe cabined for the night at the Lltili' Tonicas^ m tlie canes • during the winter they set them on fire, but during the siunmer it is necessary to cut them to be able to cabin there. The ludiuu village is up tlie country ; from thence to the Gmil Tonlcas it is ten or twelve leagues by the Mississippi ; but by laud there is nothing but a mere neck which separates the two vil- lages. Formerly they made a portage, crossing the land. They still call this passage Ike poririgc of the Cross. The river li;ul penetrated this point, and inundated it entirely during tlieso great floods, and it was this place that we had to cross the next day, that is to say, a distance of two leagues, to avoid the ten leagues which it would be necessary to go if we continued our route by the Mississippi. We accordingly took an Indian at the Link Tuidcas to act as our guide. On the 10th we entered these woods, this sea, this torrent, for it is all these at once. Our guide, whose language none of us VOYAGE UP THE iMISSISSIPPI. 01.'. „i^ uuderstooJ, addressed us by signs ; one intorprotod these in ouo ffay, and another in a diflorent ^vay, no tluit wo did every thing ;it liazard. However, wh(Ui a person has ent(;red tiicse woods, it is uocessary to go on or perish, for if he allows himself to get into the current for the purpose of returning, the rapid stream will certainly dash the bout again.st a tree, whicli will break it into a thousand pieces. If it had not been fur that, we should liave retired from such an evil undertaking immediutely, as soon !is wo saw ourselves embarked in it. It was necessary unceasing- ly to turn about the hoat in a zigzag course to prevent the hows from striking against the trees, and we often found it wedged be- tween two trees which did not give it sufficient space to pass, con- trary to the expectation of those who steered it. Now there was a torrent of which the entrance was almost closed by a raft or perhaps by two trees of great length and enormous thickness, prostrated across the two banks of the current, and which rcn- dercd it more impetuous ; now, the entrance would be entirely barred by a single tree, and it was necessary to cluuige our di- rection at the risk of finding the same obstacle a moment after- wards, or of not finding sufficient water, but instead of it, mud and brambles. Then, it became necessary to push on the boat by main strength. Often one of our people was obliged to spring into the water even to his neck, to go and make fast the boat to It tree which extended out, so that if the strength of the current slionld exceed that of the oars, and cause the boat to recede, it liiiiiht not dash itself against a tree. Our own boat ran the greatest risk; it began to fill in a current which had forced it buck, and wc saw in a moment that it was going to sink. The itrcugth of the oars saved us, and by good fortune there happened not to be at that place either raft or uprooted trees. After liaving passed another, which only left a space the size of the boat, it remained for a moment immoveable between the strength of the current and that of the oars ; we did not know whether it '», ■■',. i ■■i! •a -t'f' '11 ■H >« :.nf ?246 JESUITS IN AMERICA. n '"'Ji'^fijifi'f H 'M' was going to advance or bo driven back, tliat in to way, for a mo- jneut wo won^ vibrating between life and death ; for if tlio ours bad yielded to the strength of the current, wc .should have gone back to ])e dashed against a large tree which almost entirely bur- red the current. Our peo^jle in the other boat, who uad i)as.sod before us, waited in a sad and mournful silence, and utterotl u loud cry of joy wh'^ii they saw us out of danger. I should never end if I were to recount to you all the toils of this day. Tho passage is well named l/ir. pamige of tin' Cross, and a voyagor who knows what it is, and does not decline attempting it, even if he should escape its dangers, merits a place in a madhouse. Ainl by this side-cut they abridge the voyage but a very short duy's sail. The Lord saved our lives, and we al st reached tlie «nid and succeeded in accomplishing these two ic.tal leagues. We arrived then at four or five in the evening at the GiccH Tonkas. The chief of this nation came to the bank of the river to receive us, grasped our hands, emljraced us, spread out a mat and some skins before the cabin, and invited us to sleep there. Then he presented us with a large plate of blackberries, and a mannc (that is, a basket) of green beans. It was truly a fou^t for us, for tlie passage of the Cross had not permitted us to stop for dinner. This chief had been baptized, as well as several of his nation. by M. Uavion, but after the return of this missionary to Franco. whither he had retired a short time after the arrival of the Ca- puchin Fathers in the country, he had scarcely retained any trace of Christianity about him, except the name, a medal, and a oliap- elet. He spoke a little French, and asked us the news of M. Davion. Wc answered, that he was dead, at which the chief tes- tified his regret, and seemed to us to desire to have a missionary. He showed us also a medal of tho king, which tlic Commander General had sent him in the name of his Majesty, with a writing which certified that it was in consideration of the attachment he ■^T! VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 847 hud alway.s hud fur tho French that this proseut uas giveu him. Tlit'rc aro hoiuo Fronch ut tho Tonicas, who iiiiido grnit coiii- jihiiiits to UH witli regard to tlieir having no nii.ssioiuiry. Fallier Dumas naid Ma.s.s the next day, early in the morning, in the cabin of the chief, and wo were edilied by the eagerness shown by some of tlio French to profit by this opportunity of partaking of the sacraments. On the 1 1 til we passed the night fur the last time in the boat. Oii the 12th we cabined at l^rors l/lancs, and on tho 13th at Xfilr/icz. "We immediately made our visit to the lleverend Father I'hilibcrt, a Capuchin, who is the Cure. He is a man of good f^cusc, who was not frightened at seeing us, as his brethren had been at New Orleans ; in other respects, he is a man of worth and very zealous. We afterwards descended to the bank of tho river lo mulcc there our bains. The French settlement at Natchez has become very important. Thcj raise there a great deal of tobacco, which is esteenjcd tho best in tho country. It is a district which is very elevated, and from whence one can see the Mississippi winding along as in a cbasm ; about it is a continual succession of mounds and deep holes, but the ground of the grants is much more level and beautiful. The excessive heat prevented us from going thither or to the Indian village. The village is distant one league from that of the French : it is the only nation, or almost the only one in which we see any kind of government and religion. They keep up a perpetual fire, and have received from tradition, that if it should happen to be extinguished, it is necessary for them to go and rekindle it among the Touicas. The chief has considerable authority over those of his nation, and they are accustomed to obey him. This IS not tho case among the greater part of the other nations ; they have their chiefs only in name, each one is his own master, and yet we never see any sedition among them. When the chief v ;,i ' ' I* • . ( t '■''■■; ' ' ' i .,'1 •!;■'' I. 1 • 1" h ■'.;_ 248 JESUITS IN AMERICA. of tlie Natchez dies, a certain niimlber of ineu and women are obliged to immolate themselves to serve him in the other Avorld. Many are already devoted to this death against the time wlien ho shall die. On these occasions they F'rangle them. The French have done all in their power to prevent this barbarity, but they find great difficulty in saving any one. These peoplu say that their ancestors crossed the seas to come to this country, and those who knew their habits and customs better than myself issert that they came from China. However this may be, the Tonkas and the Natchez arc two considerable nations who ought to have each a missionary. Tlio chief of the Tonkas is already a Christian, as I have said before • he has much influence over his own people, and in other respects every one agrees that this nation is very well disposed for Christianity. A missionary would find the same advauta'-e among the Natchez, if he should have the happiness to couvcrt the chief ; but these two nations arc in the district of the Reve- rend Capuchin Fathers, who even to this time have n'^vcr ac- quired a knowledge of any Indian language. We left Natchez on the 17th, and embarked, the Father Du- mas and myself, in a boat which went out on a hunting expedi- tion. Our people had not yet prepared their provisions, that is to say, they had not purchased and pounded their corn. As the flats no\'/ began to be seen, we found there the eggs of the turtle, which were a now feast for us. These eggs are a lit- tle larger than pigeon's eggs, and arc found in the sand of tbc flats, where the sun hatches them. The tracks which the turtles leave, enalilc us to discover the places where they have concealed their eggs. They are found in great quantities, and are made into omelettes, which arc much relished by people who arc accus- tomed to eat nothing but ffrii. They reckon the distance from New Orleans to Natchez at nearly a hundred leagues, and from Natchez to Yatous, at forty. ^.>m VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 219 '): omen are icr \Yorld. ime wlien cm. The Ijarbavity, cse peo^ilc is country, lan myself, •.ez arc tw'O lary. The aid before ; icr respocts imposed for advantage ) to convert f the Eeve- e n^ver ac- Fatlier Du- ■iug cxpedi- ions, that is ru, the eggs of tffs arc a lit- sand of the the turtles c concealed d are niade arc accus- V Natchez at ms, at forty. Wc made this second passage without any other adventure, ex- cept that during one night wo were overtaken by a violent storm, accompanied with thunder and lightning. You may judge whether a person is well protected from the rain under the cover- ing of a single cloth. The next day an Indian who was a.scend- ing the river with us went on shore for the purpose of hunting. "We continued our route, but had scarcely gone half a league when he appcar-d on the bank Avith a deer on his .shoulders. We therefore cabined on the first fiat we came to, for the purp(j,5e of drying our clothes and making a great feast. These repasts, which take place after a good chase, arc perfectly savage in the way they are conducted, though nothing can be more pleasant. The animal is in pieces in a moment ; nothing is lost ; our voy- agers place it on the fire or in the pot, each one according to his taste ; their fingers and some little sticks supply the place of all kinds of utensils for cooking and for the table. To see them covered only with a cloth round the loins, more athletic, more browned than the Indians themselves, stretched out on the sand or squatting down like monkeys, and eating what they hold in their hands, one can scarcely know whether it is a troop of gip- sies, or ot people who are assisting at a witch festival, On the 23d we arrived at Yafom^, a French post within two leagues of the mouth of the river of that name, which empties into the Mississippi, There is an ofiicer with the title of Com- mander, together with a dozen soldiers, and three or four plant- ers. The grant of M. le Blanc was at this place, but it has gone to ruin like the others. The ground is elevated by mounds, little of it is cleared, and the air is, they say, unwholesome. The Commander, in honor of our arrival fired off all the artillery of the fort, which consists of two pieces of very small cannon. The fort is a barrack in which the Conriuander lodges, surrounded by a single palisade, but well defcnded by the situation of the place. He received us in a very friendly way, and we cabined in his court- 12* : V. ■ M I ill! :,.!* '■ I' ■il,.; • I,, ..''id ' ; 1 : ■ .•••1.1; " d .4 '..•I 250 JESUITS IN AMERICA. I Hi **1 t .''XT* yard. Our two boats, one of wliicl) carried Father Souel. Mis- sionary to the Yatous, arrived two days after us ; the fort paid him the same honors Avhich had been given to us. This dear Fa- ther had been dangerously ill during the voyage from Natchez to Yatous, and had begun to i-ecovcr ; but since my arrival here I have heard from him. that he had 'iufiered a relapse of his illncjis. but was again convalescent when he wrote me. During our stay at Yatous, he purchased a house, or rather the cabin of a French- man, while waiting till he could make his arrangements to settle himself among the Indians, who are at a league distance from the French post. There are three different villages which speak three diflFereut languages, and compose one nation, which is not very numerous. Beyond this I know nothing with regard to them. On the 2Gth we re-embarkcd, the Father Dumas and myself. From Yatous to the Akensas they reckon the distance at sixty leagues. We arrived there on the 7th of July, without any other adventure than having made a great feast of bear's meat, which one of our people had procured in the chase. The villages of the Akcimis are incorrectly placed on the map. The river at its mouth makes a fork, and into the upper branch empties a river which the Indians call Niskc^ or White Wc;b.i-^ which is not marked at all on tlie map, althougli it is a very large stream. AVe enter by the lower branch ; from the mouth of this branch to the place where the river separates into two streams, it is seven leagues, and from thence it is two leagues to the first village, which contains two nations, the Tourimas and the Tati- ghigas ; from this first village to the second there are two leagues by water and one league by land ; this latter they call the village of the Saidhouis ; the third village is a little higher up on the same bank of the river ; this is the village of the Kappas ; ou the other bank, and opposite to this last village, are the French habitations. These three Indian villages, which contain four na- tions bearing different names, are known by the common name VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 251 of the Akensas, wliicli name the French have also given to tlie river, although the Indians call it /il gltal, '■ Eed Avater." The^ speak the same language, and are in all about twelve hundred souls. We were a short distance from these settlements, when a com- pany of young Indians having perceived us, uttered a loud cry and ran to the village : a French boat which had preceded us one clay, had given notice of our arrival. We found all the village assembled at the landing place ; no sooner had we landed, than an Indian enquired of one of our people, whom he knew, and who understood the language, " How many moons the Black Chief would remain among them V " Always," replied the Frenchman. " You are deceiving me," was the Indian's imme- diate answer. The Frenchman assured him that he was not. but that " they should always have him among tlicm. to teach tlicm to know the Great Spirit, as had been done among the Illinois." The Indian believed him and said — " My heart laughs when you tell me this." I induced this same Frenchman to conduct me by land to the village of the Sautkoim ; before arriving there we found the Chief under his antidion, (this is the name which the French hove given to a kind of cabin open on all sides, which the Indians use in the wilderness, that is, their open country, and when they wish to take the cool air,) He invited me to lie down on his mat, and presented me with some srigamitc* lie spoke a single word to his little child who was there, and he im- mediately uttered the Indian cry, shouting with all his strength, jKin'iangci sa, ijaaianga sa, " the Black Chief, the Black Chief" 111 an instant the whole village had surrounded the aatkhon. I caused thein to be told with what design I had come, and could hear on all sides the word igaton, whicli my interpreter explained to inc. as meaning; " that is good." All this company conducted [* This has been explained in the former part of the lettei', as a prcpara tiou of corn. ] A u ,'! '. } i- 'tl . ,.. '1' . ,' ''' ■ '1 Si', ■ Hi .; ■!■•■) , •y : .f: I ■4.'i : m W'>-'- 1:- ; f< •>'.'. >,..!}■' jillii: 252 JESUITS IN AMERICA. lUG to the bank of the river, uttering loud cries ; an Indian trans- ported us over the river in his boat, and after having walked about the eighth of a league, we arrived at the French dwelHugs, I was lodged in the house of the Company of the Indies, which was ihat of tlie Commander when he is here, and found with great satisfaction that I was at the end of these two hiuulieJ leagues which I had to accomplish, I would rather twice make the voyage which we had just finished on the sea at the same .sea- son, than to recommence this one. The Father Dumas was ouly in tlie middle of his route to go to the Illinois, and embarked again on the morning after his arrival ; from this place to the Illinois country he did not find a single habitation, but they scarcely ever failed to kill some buftaloes, which very well made amends to people who had nothing to live on but some gru. I have now reached tlie end of my long and tedious narrative. I have only written for yourself and for one other friend cvjually indulgent with yourself ; it is Father Bernard, to whom I [jeg you to forward this letter, lie is at Dijon. I will endeavor more fully to satisfy your curiosity, when I am better ac(j[uaiiited with the customs of tho Indians in this region. You have not the same excuse as myself, for you are in the midst of that great theatre where the scene changes every day, and materials arc furnished for the longest and most curious letters. I wrote you from New Orleans : have you received my letter 1 I pray you to present my regards to the Ilevcrend Father do Fontenai. and commend me to his holy prayers. I ask also an interest in yours. You are both of you always in my memory, Present also my respects to the Reverend Father Davaugour, and to the dear brotlior Talard. I pray that dear brother to write mo l)y the first opportuni*-y there is of sending to the Reverend Father de Reaubois, and jbn\e all to Airnish me with the prints, particularly those representing the diHereut mv^teries myi in the life of our Lord : M. Cars will give them to him. if ho ask; W-'W VOYAGE UP THE MISSISSIPPI. 253 him in ray name ; ho has promised them to me. This is a great means we are able to adopt of giving some idea of the mysteries of om' religion to the Indians. They always get into ccstacies when they see a picture of St. Regis which I have in my eham- ber, which was engraved by M. Cars. They place the hand upon the mouth, which is a sign of admiration among them. Ouakan taque, they cry out — " It is the Great Spirit." I tell them that it is not, that it is one who was a Black Ilobe Chief like myself, that he listened attentively to the words of the Great Spirit, and observed them through life, and that after his death he went to be with him in Heaven. Some pass their hand at different times over the face of the Saint, and then carry it to their own face. It is a ceremony which they use when they wish to show a mark of veneration to any one ; then they place themselves in different parts of my chamber, and say each time laughing, '• lie looks at me, he almost speaks, he wants nothing but words." But these are trifles, and it is time for both of us to take breath. Adieu, &c ' ■■'SI ^^^^^^bU'*' ^^^^K^i'-^.<< >'i:i' At Akensas, this 3rd of October^ 1727. :t-:i MISSION TO THE ARKANSAS, 1727. n ;♦ f»1J'l 1 i*i , ' l" .I.).. ((';■( jr wl fe< rei (111 to wl etl m til in fl- at m LETTER IX. . ; ;i ,1 FROM FATHER DU POISSON, MISSIONARY TO THE AKENSAS, TO FATHER PATOUILLET. MY REVEREND FATHER Receive the compliments of a poor Mississippieii, who has always esteemed you, and if you will permit him to say so, has loved you as much as the best of your friends. The distance wbich Providence has interposed between us, can never efface the feelings of regard which I entertain for you, and still less the remembrance I have of the friendship you bestowed upon me (luring the years that we lived together. The favor which I ask of you henceforth is, to think of me a little, to pray God for me, and to give me from time to time the news with regard to 3 ourself, which I shall prize so highly. I am not yet sufficiently ac(|uaint- ed with the country and the customs of the Indians, to give you much information about them ; I can only tell you that tlio Mis- sissippi does not present anything beautiful to the voyager, any- thing as extraordinary as itself ; nothing indeed can disfigure it more than the continual forest which linos its two banks, and the frightful solitude in which he is during his voyage. Having therefore nothing curious to write you concerning this country, permit me to tell you what has happened to me since my arrival at this post to which Providence destined m^ . Two days after my arrival, the village of the SauthnuU deputed two Indians to ask me, whether I was willing they should come to chant the calumet. They were in their dress of ceremony, i»i 51 ■ ■■:.\ ',") '1* (■ I M ; ■■■' "M.i:' ■ i ^■il t : I 'Mm iterM-i 258 JESUITS IN AMERICA. *'V'' ^'.'* tf''"> *■ Is.:: *vr ili;' .*^ (Xit^O 1, 'fill- well mato.rh(\ that in, luiving the body entirely paintiMl of dirtoront colors, with tlie tails of wild eats liaiiging- down from places wIhuu we usually represent the wings of IMereiiry, the caluiuct in tlu,ir hands, and on their hodies some little bells, which announced to nic their arrival even when they were at u distance. I auswrrnl them, that I was not at all like the French chiefs who c»iu- niauded warriors, and who came with plunder to malvc thciu presents ; that I had only come to make known to them the Great Spirit with whom they wore unacipiainted, and I luid brought with me only those things which were necessary for my object, but that nevertheless I accepted their ctilumet for the tlmo when a small canoe should be built for me ; this was postp()iiiii ^"V. ^ o ^Xt. ^"^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // qj^ f:-;: f/u Wd ^ 1.0 Sf"- i^ IL25 1 1.4 1.6 pm V. <^ # /i >> fl '^# O^ ' V* •»? %■ V -^' /; / ^7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STfiEET WEBSTER, NY. 1 4580 (716) a72-4S03 ■1? ^» :\ \ % \ 6^ 260 JESUITS IN AMERICA. S'i ri ■*<,: but superficially, and only as much as is necessary for purposes of trade, so that I at present am as well acquainted with it as they are. I foresee, however, that it will be very difficult for me to learn as much as is necessary to address these Indians on the subject of religion, while I have reason to believe that they think I am Tierfectly acquainted with their language. A Frenchman was lately speaking of me to one of them, when the latter said to him, "J know that he is a Great Spirit, who understands all things." You see that they do me infinitely more honor thau I merit. Another addressed to me a long harangue, of which I understood nothing but the words indatai^^^ my father," nijgiiigv.ai, " my sons." I however answered him at random when I saw that he was questioning me, ae, " yes," and igalon^ " that is good." Afterwards he passed his hand over my face and my shouldci':<, and then did the same to himself All these agios being finished. he went home with a very contented air. Another came some days afterwards to go through the same ceremony. As soon as I saw him I sent for a Frenchman, and begged him to explain to me what was said, without appearing to act as interpreter. I was desirous of knowing whether or not I had been mistaken in the reply I made to the other. He asked whether it seemed good to nie to adopt him as my son, so that when he returned from the chase, and should without design lay his game at my feet, I should not ask him, as the other French do, " for what are you hungry ? ' (that is to say, what do you wish me to give you for this ?) but that I should make him sit down, and should give him something to eat as I would to my son, and that when ho returned another time to see me, I should say to him, " sit down my son, but hold, there is some vermilion and powder." You see from this the nature of these savages ; they wish to appear generous in giving uiithout design, but at the same time do not wish to lose anything'. I answered this speech, ignaton tk^, " that is very good, I approve MISSION TO THE ARKANSAS. 261 of it, I agree to that ;" after which he passed his hand over me as the other had done. Let me give you another incident which shows the extent of their generosity. The day before yesterday I received the visit of a chief, and gave him something to smoke, to omit which would show that I was wanting in politeness. A moment afterwards be went out to get the skin of a deer matachee which he had left iu the entry of the house where I am, and placed it on my shoul- ders, Such is the custom when they make presents of this kind. I begged th6 Frenchman to ask him, without its appearing to come from me, what he wished me to give him ? "I give it with- out desig7i,''^ said he ; " it is the way in which I would trade with my father!" (To trade signifies here to give.) Nevertheless, some moments afterwards, he said to the same Frenchman, that his wife was out of salt, and his son of powder. His object wa.s that the Frenchman should tell me of it. The Indian never gives anything for nothing, and it is necessary for their sake to observe the same rule, or we should expose ourselves to their contempt. A skin matachee is a skin painted by the Indians with diflferent colors, and on which they paint calumets, birds, and animals. Those of the deer serve as cloths for the table, and those of the buffalo as coverings for the bed. The French establishment among the Arkansas would have been considerable, if M. Laws had remained in credit four or five years longer. The grant which he had procured was at this place on a prairie boundless to the view, the beginning of which is about two gun-shots from the house in which I now am. The India Company had granted him sixteen leagues square, or a tract of about a hundred leagues round His design was to build a city there, to establish manufactures, to have numbers of vas- sals and troops, in short to found there a duchy. He only com- menced this work a year before his fall. The property which he had already sent into the country amounted to more than fifteen ■i* "I i: t '■ 'm .•■■•■! '0, I A - \ I, 'Fff ',.i yf "« m THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. ^.»9l i i:*i 1729. w LETTER X. M •I' FROM FATHER LE PETIT, MISSIONARY, TO FATHER d'aVAUGOUR, PROCURATOR OF THE MISSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA. At New Orleans, the 12th of July, 1730. MY REVEREND FATHER, 2%e Peace of our Lord be loith you : You cannot be ignorant of the sad event which has desolated that part of the French Colony established at Natchez^ on the right bank of the Mississippi river, at the distance of a hundred and twenty leagues from its mouth. Two of our missionaries who were engaged in the conversion of the Indians, have been included in the almost general massacre which this barbarous nation made of the French, at a time too when they had not the least reason to suspect their perfidy. A loss so great as this in- fant mission has sustained, will continue for a long time to excite our deepest regrets. As you could only have learned in a confused manner the events of this dark treachery, I will endeavor to relate to you all the circumstances ; but first I think that it would be best to make you acquainted with the character of these perfidious savages, called the Natchez. When I have described to you the religion, the manners, and the customs of these barbarians, I will proceed to the history of the tragical event which I design to narrate, and will in detail recount all those circumstances, of which I am certain you have hitherto had no knowledge. This nation of Indians inhabits one of the most beautiful and :-';- i ' It'' I ■il, ;''':' 268 JESUITS IN AMERICA. fertile countries in tlic world, and is the only one on this conti- nent which appears to have any regular worship. Their religion in certain points is very similar to that of the ancient llonuuirf. They have a temple filled with idols, which are different figures of men and of animals, and for which they have the most pro- found veneration. Their temple in shape resembles an earthen oven, a hundred feet in circumference. They enter it by a little door about four feet high, and not more than three in broadtli. No window is to be seen there. The arched roof of the edifice is covered with three rows of mats, placed one upon the other, to prevent the rain from injuring the masonry. Above on the out- side are three figures of eagles made of wood, and painted red, yellow, and v-hite. Before the door is a kind of shed with fold- ing doors, where the Guardian of the Temple is lodged ; all around it runs a circle of palisades, on which are seen exposed the skulls of all the heads which their warriors had brought Lack from the battles in which they had been engaged with the cue- mies of their nation. In the interior of the Temple are some shelves arranged at a certain distance from each other, on which are placed cane bas- kets of an oval shape, and in these are enclosed the bones of thoh* ancient chiefs, while by their side are those of their victims whom they had caused to be strangled, to fbllow their masters into the other world. Another separate shelf supports many flat baskets very gorgeously painted, in which they preserve their idols. These are figures of men and women made of stone or baked clay, the heads and the tails of extraordinary serpents, some stuffed owls, some pieces of crystal, and some jaw ])oncs of large fish. In the year 1699, they had there a bottle and the foot of a glass, which they guarded as very precious. In this temple they take care to keep up a perpctu?^ fire, and they are very particular to prevent its ever blazing ; they do not use anything for it but dry wood of tlie walnut or oak. The old THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 2f.O inou aro obliged to curry, each oiiu in Ills turn, a largo log of wood into the enclosure of the juilisade. The number of the tiuardi- aus of the Temple is fixed, and they serve by the (juarter. lie who is on duty is placed like a sentinel under the ^hed, from whence he examines whuther the fire if not in danger of going out. He feeds it with t^vo or three large logs, which do not burn except at the extremity, and which they never place one on tho other, for fear of their getting into a blaze. Of the women, tho sister.s of the great Chief alone have liberty to enter within the Temple. The entrance is forbidden to all tho others, as well as to the coniLion people, even when they carry something there to feast to the memory of their relations, whoso bones repose in the Temple. They give the dishes to the (jiuardian, who carries them to the side of the basket in which are the bones of the dead ; this ceremony lasts only during one moon. The dishes arc afterwards placed on the palisades which surround the Temple, and are abandoned to the fallow-deer. The sun is the principal object of veneration to these people; as they cannot conceive of anything which can be above this heavenly body, nothing else appears to them more worthy of their homage. It is for the same reason that the great Chief of this nation, who knows nothing on the earth more dignified than him- self, takes the title of Brother of the Sun, and the credulity of the people maintains him in the despotic authority which he claims. To enable them better to converse together, they rai.se a mound of artificial soil, on which they build his cabin, which is of the same construction as the temple. The door fronts the East, and every morning the great Chief honors by his presence the rising of his elder brother, and salutes him with many bowlings as soon as he appears above the horizon. Then he gives orders that they shall light his calumet;* he makes him an offering of tho first threq puffs which he draws; afterwards raising his hands above * The calumet is a large pipe which these Indiaus use. t ! i ^ 4 ■ i ill ' ''* ii ' i ■ M ': ■■'■'■il •■■ i! t 270 JESUITS IN AMERICA. H^'S % ft' '■• m m I B his head, and tuniing from ihc East to tho West, he shows him the direction which ho must take in liis course. There are iu this cabin a number of beds on the left hand at entering: but oe tlie rigiit is only the bed of the gr^at ('hict'. ornamented with dillorent painted iigures. This bed consists of notiiing but a niai tress of canes and reeds, very hard, v;ith ti stiuare log of wood, which serves for a pillow. In the middle of tho cabin is seen a SMidil stone, and no one should approach tho bed until he has made the circuit of this stone. Those who cuter salute by a howl, and advance even to the bottom of the cahln. without looking at the right side, where is the Chief Then they give a new salute by raising their arms above the head, and \iov;\- ing three times. If it be any one whom the Chief holds in con- sideration, ho answers by a slight sigh and makes a sign to him to be seated. He thanks him for his politeness by a new howl. At every question which the Chief puts to him, he howls once before he answers, and when ho takes his leave, he prolongs a single howl until he is out of his presence. Wheii the great Chief dies, they demolish his cabin, and then raise a new mound, on which they build the cabin of him who i,s to replace him in this dignity, for he never lodges in that of his predecessor. The old men prescribe the laws for the rest of tho people, and one of their principles is, to have a sovereign respect for the great Chief, as being the Brother of the Sun and the blaster of the Temple. They believe in the immortality of the eoul, and when they leave this world they go, they say, to live in another, there to be recompensed or punished. The rewards to which they look forward, consist principally in feasting, and thcii' chastisement in the privation of every pleasure. Thus they think that those who have been the faithful observers of their laws avIU be conducted into a region of pleasures, where all kinds of exqui- site viands will be furnished them in abundance, that thcii' delightful and tranquil days will flow on in the midst of festivals, THE MASSACRE DY THE NAT('lIi:Z. 871 (lances, and women ; in short, that thoy will rovcl in all imagina- ble plca.suroH. On the t'ontnry, the viohitors ol" their hiw^i will be cast upon hinds unfruitful and entirely covered with water, where they will not have any kind f>f corn, hut will ]>e ex^josed entirely naked to tlic .sharj) bites of the nuisiiuitocs, that all nations will nuike war ui)on tlu in, that they will never oat meat, and have no nourishment hut the flesh of crocodiles, spoiled fish, and shell-fish. These people blindly obey the least wish of their great Chief. They look upon him as absolute nnister, not only of their pro- perty but also of their lives, and not one of them would dare to refuse him his Lead, if he should demand it; for whatever labors bo commands them tq^^^xccute, they arc forbidden to exact any wages. The French, who are often in need of hunters or of rowers for their long voyages, never apply to any one but the great Chief. lie furnishes all the men they wish, and receives payment, without giving any part to those unfortunate individuals, who are not permitted even to complain. One of the principal articles of their religion, and particularly for the servants of tho jrreat Chief, is that of honoring his funeral rites by dying with iihn, that they may go and servo him in the other world. In their blindness they willingly submit to this law. in the foolish belief, that in the train of iheir Chief they will go to enjoy tho greatest happiness. To give an idea of this bloody ceremony, it is necessary to know that as soon as an heir presumptive has been born to tho gicat Chief, each family that has an infant at the breast is obliged to pay him homage. From all these infants they choose a cer- tain number whom they destine for the service of the young prince, and as soon as they are of a competent age, they furnish tbem with employments suited to their talents. Some pas-; their lives in hunting, or in fishing, to furnish supplies for the table ; others are employed in agriculture, while others serve to fill up , '»■ in ", :s 272 JESUITS IN AMERICA. ft '•;*■'■ I m his retinue. If he happen to die, all these servants sacrifice themselves with joy to follow their dear master. They first put on all their finery, and repair to the place opposite to the temple where all the people are assemhled. After having danced and sung a sufficiently long time, they pass around their neck a cord of buffiilo hair with a running knot, and immediately tlie minis- ■ tcrs appointed for executions of this kind, come forward to strangle them, recouimending them to go and rejoin their master, and to render to him in the other world services even more hon- orable than tliose which had occupied them in this. The principal servants of the great Chief having been strangled in this way, they strip the flesh off their bones, particularly those of their arms and thighs, and leave them to dry for two months in a kind of tomb, after which they take them out to be shut up in the baskets, which are placed in the temple by the side of the bones of their master. As for the other servants, their relatives carry them home with them, and bury them with their arms and clothes. The same ceremony is observed in like manner on the death of the brothers and sisters of the great Chief The women are always strangled to follow the latter, except they have infants at the breast, in which case they continue to live, for the purpose of nourishing them. And we often see many who endeavor to find nurses, or who themselves strangle their infants, so that they shall not lose the right of sacrificing themselves in the puhlic place, according to the ordinary ceremonies, and as the law prescribes. This government is hereditary ; it is not, however, the son of the reigning chief that succeeds his father, but the son of liis sister, or the first princess of the blood. This policy i>^ founded on the knowledge they have of the licentiousness of their females. They are not sure, they say, that the children of the chief's wife THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 273 may be of the blood royal, whereas the son of the sister of the great Chief must be, at least on the side of the mother. The princesses of the blood never espouse any but men of ob- scure family, and they liave but one husband, but they have the right of dismissing him whenever it pleases them, and of choosing another among those of the nation, provided he has not made any other alliance among them. If the husband has been guilty of infidelity, the princess may have his head cut off in an instant ; but she is not herself subject to the same law, for she may have as many lovers as she pleases, without the husband having any power to complain. In the presence of his wife he acts with the most profound respect, never eats with her, and salutes her with howls, as is done by her servants. The only satisfaction he has is, that ho is freed from the necessity of laboring, and has entire authority'- over those who serve the princess. In former times the nation of the Natcliez was very large. It counted sixty villages and eight hundred suns or princes ; now it is reduced to six little villages and eleven suns. In each of these villages there is a temple where the fire is always kejit burning as in that of the great Chief, whom all the other chiefs obey. The great Chief nominates to the most important offices of the state ; such are the two war chiefs, the two masters of ceremony for the worship of the temple, the two officers who preside over the other ceremonies which arc observed when foreigners come to treat of peace, another wLo has the inspection of the public works, four others charged with the arrangement of the festivals with which tliey publicly entertain the nation, and such strangers as come to visit them. All these ministers who execute the will of the great chief arc treated with the same respect and obedi- ence as if he personally gave the orders. Each year the people assemble to plant one vast field with In- dian corn, beans, pumpkins, and melons, and then again they col- 13* I ill ■i ■ 'i • "1 ''U 1 ' 4l> n r. ••I .1:1 274 JESUITS IN AMERICA. 'T hr In the same way to gather the harvest. A large cabin situ- ated on a beautiful prairie is set apart to hold the fruits of this harvest. Once in the summerj toAvards the end of July the people gather by order of the great '^hief, to be present at a grand feast which he gives them. This festival lasts for thrco days and three nights, and each one contributes what he can to furnish it ; some bring game, others fish, &c. They have almost constant dances, while the great Chief and his sister are in an elevated lodge covered with boughs, from whence they can see the joy of their subjects. The princes, the princesses, and those who by their office are of distinguished rank, are arranged very near the Chief, to whom they show their respect and submission by an infinite variety of ceremonies. The great Chief and his sister make their entrance in the place of the assembly on a litter borne by eight of their greatest luen : tlio chief holds in his hand a great sceptre ornamented v.'ith painted plumes, and all the people dunce and sing about him in testimony of the public joy. The last day of this feast he causes all his subjects to approach, and makes them a long harangue, in Avhich he exhorts them to fulfil all their duties to religion ; he recommends them above all things to have a great veneration for the spirits which reside in the temple, and care- fully to instruct their children. If any one has distinguished himself by some act of zeal, he is then publicly praised. Such a case happened in the year 1702. The temple having been struck with lightning and reduced to ashes, seven or eight avo- men cast their infants into the midst of the flames to appease the wrath of Heaven. The chief called these heroines, and gave them great praises for the courage with v/hich they had made the sacrifice of that v/Iiich they held most dear ; he finished Lis pane- gyric by exhorting the other women to imitate so beautiful an example in similar circumstances. The fathers of families do not fail to carry to the temple the THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. S75 first of their fruits, their com and yogetables. It is the same even with presents which are made to this nation ; they are im- mediately o£Fered at the gate of the temple, when the Guardian, after having displayed aud presented them to the spirits, carries them to the house of the great Chief, who makes a distribution of them as he judges best, without any person testifying the least discontent. They never planl; their fieMs without having first presented the seed in the temple with the accustomed ceremonies. As soon as these people approach the temple, they raise their arms by way of respect, and utter three howls, after which they place their hands on the earth, and raise themselves again three times with as many reiterated howls. When any one has merely to pass before the temple, he only pauses to salute it by his down- cast eyes and raised arms. If a father or mother see their son fail in the performance of this ceremony, they will punish him immediately with repeated blows of a stick. Such are the ceremonies of the Natchez Indians with regard to their religion. Those of marriage are very simple. When a young man thinks of marrying, he has only to address himself to the father of the girl, or if s.he have none, to her eldest brother, and they agree on the price, which he pays in skins or merchandise. When a girl has even lived a licentious life, they make no difficulty in receiving her, if there is the least idea that she will change her conduct when she is married. Neither do they trouble themselves as to what family she belongs, provided that she pleases chem. As to the relatives of the girl, their only caro is to inform themselves whether he who asks her is an able hunter, a good warrior, and an excellent workman. These qualities diminish the price which they have a right to ask on the marriage. When the parties have agreed, the future husband goes to the chase with his friends, and when he has sufficient either of •II* /ft: , ■'li t.:.i::' ■0^ ■ • ': :,,;m 276 JESUITS IN AMERICA. game or of fish, to feast the two families who have contracted the alliance, they assemble at the house of the parents of tho f^irl They particularly serve the new married pair, who eat from the same dish. The repast being ended, the bridegroom smokes the calumet towards the parents of his wife, and then towards his own parents, after which all the guests retire. The new married people remain together until the next day, and then tho husband conducts his wife to the residence of her father-in-law, where they live until the family has built for him a cabin of his own. While they are constructing it, he passes the whole day in the chase to furnish food, which he gives to those who are employed in this work. The laws permit the Natchez to have as many wives as they choose, nevertheless the common people generally have but one or two. This however is not the case with the chiefs, their number is greater, because having the right to oblige the people to cvVJi- vate their fields, without giving them any wages, the number of their wives is no expense to them. The marriage of the chiefs is made with less ceremony. They content themselves with sending to fetch the father of the girl whom they wish to espouse, and they declare to him that they will give her the rank of their wives. They do not fail however, as soon as the marriage is consummated, to make a present to the father and mother. Although they have many wives, they keep but one or two in their own cabins : the rest remain at the houses of their parents, where they go to see them when they wish. At certain periods of the moon these Indians never live with their wives. Jealousy has so little place in their hearts, that many find no difficulty in lending their wives to their friends. This indifference in the conjugal union results from the liberty they have of changing when it seems good to them, provided however that their wives have never borne children to them, for ^■n THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 277 if any have been born of the marriage, nothing but death can separate them. When this nation sends out a detachment for war, the chief of the party erects two kinds of poles painted red from the top to the bottom, ornamented with red plumes, and arrows and toma- hawks, also painted red. These poles are pointed to the side to which they are to carry the war. Those who wish to join *;hc party, after having ornamcptcd and daubed themselves wiUi dif- ferent colors, come to harangue the war chief. This harangue, which one makes after the other, and which lasts nearly half an hour, consists of a thousand protestations of service, by which they assure him that they ask nothing more than to die with him, that they are charmed to learn of so able a warrior the art of taking scalps, and that they fear neither the hunger nor fa- tigues to which they are going to be exposed. When a sufficient number of braves have presented themselves to the war chief, he causes to be made at his house a beverage which they call the War Medicine. This is an emetic, which they make from a root they boil in large kettles full of water. The warriors, sometimes to the number of three hundred, having seated themselves about the kettle, they serve each one with two pots of it. The ceremony is to swallow them with a single effort, and then to throw them up immediately by the mouth, with effortT so violent that they can be heard at a great dis- tance. After this ceremony, the war chief appoints the day of depar- ture, that each one may prepare provisions necessary for the cam- paign. During this time, the braves repair evening and morning to the place before the Temple, where after having danced and related in detail the brilliant actions in which their bravery was conspicuous, they chant their death songs. To see the extreme joy they show at their departure, we should say that they had already signalized their valor by some great rt ,;,.. 'If" *l I i m .'ll :l '11 . ■ t Ji '. 'i.'" ■ i.i h 278 JESUITS IN AMERICA. victory, but a very small thing alone is necessary to disconcert their plans. They are so superstitious with respect to dreams, that a single one of evil augury can arrest the execution of their enter- prise, anv'- oblige them to return when they are on the march, We see parties, which after having gone through with all the cer- emonies I have mentioned, immediately break off from their ex- pedition, because they have heard a dog bark in an extraordi- nary manner : in an instant their ardor for glory is changed iuto a perfect panic. "When on the war-path, they march in single file : four or five men who are the best walkers lead the way, and keep in advance of the army a quarter of a league, to observe every thing, and give immediate notice. They encamp every evening an hour be- fore sunset, and lie down about a large fire, each one with his arms near him. Before they encamp, they take the precaution to send out twenty warriors to the distance of a half league around the camp, for the purpose of avoiding all surprise. They never post sentinels during the night, but as soon as they have supped, they extinguish all the fires. At night the war chief exhorts them not to give themselves up to a profound sleep, and to keep their arms always in a state of readiness. He ap- points a place where they shall rally in case they are attacked during the night and put to flight. As the war Chiefs always catry with them their idols, or what they call their Spirits, well secured in some skins, at night they suspend them from a small pole painted red, which they erect in a slanting position, so that it may be bent on the side towards tjic enemy. The warriors, before they go to sleep, with tomahawk in hand, pass one after the other in a dance before these pretended Spirits, at the same time uttering the fiercest threats towards the side on which are their enemies. When the war party is considerable, as it enters the enomy's country, they march in five or six columns. They have many ' 'J THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 275 spies, who go out on scouting expeditions. If they perceive that their march is known, they ordinarily adopt the resolution of retracing their steps, leaving a small troop of from ten to twenty men who detach themselves, and endeavor to surprise some hun- ters at a distance from the villages ; on their return they chant their songs with reference to the scalps they have taken. If they liave taken any prisoner^., they force them to sing and dance for some days before the temple, after which they present them to the relatives of those who had been killed. These relatives are dissolved in tears during this ceremony, and drying their eyes Avith the scalps which have been taken, they contribute aiiong themselves to recompense the warriors who have taken these cap- tives, whose lot is to be burned. The Natchez, like all the other nations of Lousiana, distinguish by particular names those who have killed a greater or less num- ber of the enemy. The old war chiefs distribute these names according to the merit of the wanlors. To deserve the title of a great man-slayer, it is necessary to have taken ten slaves or to have carried off twenty scalps. When a person understands their language, the name itself of a warrior enables him to learn all his exploits. Those who, for the first time, have taken a scalp or made a captive, do not sleep at their return with their wives, and do not eat any meat ; they ought not to partake of anything but fisii and thickened milk. This abstinence lasts for six months. If they fail to observe it, they imagine that the soul of him whom thoy have killed will cause them to die through sorcery, that they will never again obtain any advantage over their enemies, and that the slightest wounds they may receive will prove fatal. They take extreme care that the great Chief shall not .n any way expose his life when he goes to war. If, carried away by his valor, he should happen to be killed, the Chiefs of the party and the other principal warriors would be put to death on their return ; but executions of this kind are almost without example. ■f % •U'l h 'If 7^ '2 ■il ■( " -4 !'i Si- 1 280 JESUITS IN AMERICA. on account of the precautions they take to preserve him from this evil. This nation, like the others, has its medicine-men ; these are generally old men, who without study or any science, undertake to cure all complaints. They do not attempt this by simples, or by drugs ; all their art consists in different juggleries ; that is to say, that they dance and sing night and day about the sick man, and smoke without ceasing, swallowing the smoke of the tobacco. These jugglers eat scarcely anything during all the time that they are engaged in the cure of the sick, but their chants and their dances are accompanied by contortions so violent, that although they are entirely naked and should naturally suffer from cold, yet they are always foaming at the mouth. They have a little basket in which they keep what they call their Spirits, that is to say, small roots of different kinds, heads of owls, small par- cols of the hair of fallow deer, some teeth of animals, some small stones or pebbles, aud other similar trifles. It appears that to restore health to the sick, they invoke with- out ceasing that which they have in their basket. Some of them have there a certain root, which by its smell can put serpents to sleep and render them senseless. After having rubbed their hands and body with this root, they take hold of these reptiles without fearing their bite, which is mortal. Sometimes they cut, with a flint, the part afflicted with the malady, and then suck out all the blood they can draw from it, and in returning it imme- diately into a dish, they at the same time spit out a little piece of wood, or straw, or leather, which they have concealed under the tongue. Drawing to it the attention of the relatives of the sick man, " There," say they, " is the cause of the sickness." These medicine-men are always paid in advance. If the sick man recovers, their gain is very considerable, but if he should die, they are sure to have their heads cut off by the relatives or friends of the deceased. This never fails to be done, and even li. -^^ '"•»: THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 2S1 the relatives of the medicine-men find nothing at all of which to complain, and do not testify any concern. There is the same rule with some other jugglers, who under- take to procure rain or fair weather. These arc commonly indo- lent, old men, who wishing to avoid the labor which is required in hunting, fishing, and the cultivation of the fields, exercise this dangerous trade to gain a support for their families. Towards spring, the nation taxes itself to purchase from these jugglers favorable weather for the fruits of the earth. If the harvest prove abundant, they gain a handsome reward, but if it is unfor- tunate, they take it from them, and cut off their heads. Thus those who engage in this profession risk everything to gain every- thing. In other respects their life is very idle ; they have no other inconvenience than that of fasting and dancing with a pipe in their mouth, full of water and pierced like a watoring-pot, which they blow into the air on the side where the clouds are thickest. In one hand they hold the siclcouct, which is a kind of rattle, and in the other their spirits, which they stretch out to- wards the clouds, uttering frightful cries to invite them to burst upon their fields. If it is pleasant weather for which they ask, they do not use these pipes, but they mount on the roof of their cabins, and with their arms make signs to the clouds, blowing with all their strength, that it shall not stop over their lands, but pass beyond. When the clouds are dissipated according to their wish, they dance and sing about their spirits, which they place reverently on a kind of pillow ; they redouble their fasts, and when the cloud has passed, they swallow the smoke of tobacco, and hold up their pipes to the sky. Although they never show any favor to these charlatans, when they do not obtain what they ask, yet the profit thoy receive is so great, when by chance they succeed, that we see a great num- ber of these savages who do not at all fear to run the risks. It is "•'"i: ■Jn .1 if.! ."lit I: -;:P' li' •u I 1, J , ..I .'I 'r • 283 JESUITS IN AMERICA. to bo observed, that ho who undertakes to furnisli rain, Ticvor en. gages to procure pleasant weather. There is another kind of charlatans to whom this privilege belongs, and when you ask them the reason, thoy answer boldly that their spirits can give but the one or the other. When one of these Indians dies, his relatives come to moiiin his death during an entire day, then they array him in his most beautiful dresses, they paint his face and his hair, and ornament him with plumes, after which they carry him to the grave pre- pared for him, placing by his side his arms, a kettle, and soinc provisions. For the space of a month, his relatives como at the dawn of day and at the beginning of the night, to weep for lialf an hour at his grave. Each one names his degree of relation.'liip. If he were the father of a family, the wife cries, " My dear hus- band, ah ! how I regret you !" The children cry. " My dear father !" The others, " My uncle ! my cousin !" &c. The near- est relations continue this ceremony for three months ; they cut ofiF their hair in sign of grief, they abstain from painting the body, and are never found at any assembly for festivity. When any foreign nation comes to treat of peace with the Natchez Indians, they send their couriers to give notice of the day and hour when they shall make their entrance. The great Chief orders the masters of ceremony to prepare all things for this grand occasion. They begin by naming those who during each day should support the .strangers, for the expence never Mh upon the chief, but always on his subjects. Then they clear the roads, they sweep the cabins, they arrange the seats in a large hall which is on the mound of the great Chief by the side of his cabin. His throne, which is on an elevation, is painted and or- namented, and the bottom is furnished with beautiful mats. On the day that the ambassadors are to make their entrance, all the nation assembles. The masters of ceremony place the princes, the chiefs of the villages, and the old chiefs of quality THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 283 4 ' 'I 1-] near the great Chief, on particular scats. When tlic ambassadors nrrivc, and arc within five hundred steps of the great Ciiief, thoy stop and chant the song of peace. The ambassage ordinarily consists of thirty men and six females. Six of the best made, and who have the finest voices, march in front ; thoy are followed by the others who chant in like manner, regulating the cadence with the Hrirouet. The six females are the hist. When the chief has directed them to approach, they advance ; those who have the calumets, chant and dunce with much agility, now turning around each other, and now presenting themselves in front, but always with violent movements and extraordinary contortions. When they have entered the circle, they dance about the chair on which the chief is seated, they rub him with their calumets from his fee*, even to his head, and after that go back to find those who belong to their suite. Then they fill one of their calumets with tobacco, and holding the fire in one hand, they advance altogether before the chief and smoke it : they di- rect the first puff of smoke towards the heavens, the second to- wards the earth, and the others around the horizon, after which they without ceremony present the pipe to the princes and to the other chiefs. This ceremony having been finished, the ambassadors, as a token of alliance, rub their hands on the stomach of the chief, and rub themselves over the whole body ; they then place their calumets before the chief on small forks, while the per- son among the ambassadors who is particularly charged with the orders of his nation, delivers an harangue which lasts for an entire hour. When he has finished, they make a sign to the strangers to be seatea on the benches ranged near the great Chief, who responds to them by a discourse of equal length. Then the master of ceremonies lights the great calumet of peace, and makes the strangers smoke, who swallow the tobacco smoke. The great Chief enquires of them, whether they arrived safe ? (-, M M m 2S4 JESUITS IN AMERICA. that is, whether they arc well, and those who arc around tlimu go ouG after the other to discharge the same office of politeness. After which they conduct them to the cabin whicli has Icon prepared for them, and where they are feasted. That same evening at sunset, the ambassadors, with tlie calu- met in their hands, go with singing to find the great CMiiuf, and having raised him on their shoulders, they transport him to the quarter in which their cabin is situated. They spread ou tlio ground a large skin, on which they cause him to sit down. Oiiu of them places himself behind him, and putting his hands ou the Chiefs shoulders, ho agitates all his body, while the others, seated in a circle on the ground, chant the history of their distinguished deeds. After this ceremony, which is repeated night and morn- ing for four days, the great Chief returns to his cabin. AVhon he pays his last visit to the ambassadors, these place a stake at his feet, about which they seat themselves : the braves of the nation having arrayed themselves in all their finery, dance around, striking the stake, and in turn recounting their great ex- ploits in war, then follows the presentation of presents to the ambassadors, which consist of kettles, hatchets, guns, powder, balls, &c. The day following this last ceremony, it is permitted to the ambassadors to walk through the whole village, which before they were not able to do. Then every evening they give thorn spectacles, that is to say, the men and women in their most beau- tiful dresses assemble at the public place, and dance until the night is far advanced. When they are ready to return home, the masters of the ceremonies furnish them with the provisions necessary for the journey. After having thus given you a slight idea of the character and customs of the Natchez Indians, I proceed, my Reverend Father, as I have promised you, to enter on a detail of their perfidy and treason. It was on the second of December of the year 1729, Tm,. % THE MASSACRR DY TIIR NATCIIRZ. SS6 that wo Ictirned thoy had Hiiri»ri.seil the Fronch, and had mas- sacred almoHt ull of tliem. This sad news was first brought to us by QUO of the pUiutcrH, who had escaped their fury. It was con- Grined to us on the following duy by other French fugitives, and finally, some French women whom they had made slaves, and wcro forced afterwards to restore, brought us all the particulars. At the first rumour of an event so sad, tlic alarm and conster- nation was gcnenil in Now Orleans, Although the niassaero had taken place more than a hundred leagues from here, you would have supposed that it had happened under our own eyes ; each one was mourning the loss of a relative, a friend, or somo property ; all were alarmed for their own lives, for there was rea- son to fear that the conspiracy of the Indians had been general. This unlooked for massacre began on Monday, the 28th of October, about nine o'clock in the morning. Some cause of dis- satisfaction which the Natcliez thought thoy had with the Com- mander,* and the arrival of a number of richly loaded boats for * [The " cause of dissatisfaction which the Natchez thought they had with the Commander" was of some importance, rather more so tliau Fatlior lo Petit gives us to understand. We find it thus related in a history of the State: — " M. du Chopart, governor of Fort Rosalie, was a man of an over- bearing disposition and vindictive temper, who had made himself odious to the Indians by different acts of injustice. Having determined to build a town, he selected, with wanton cruelty, the site of a village of the Natchez, then occupied by a numerous population of the unotfending people. Accord- ingly he directed the chiefs to remove the inhabitants, and plant them iu another place. The Natchez, perceiving that their ruin was resolved on, endeavored to gain time, while they effected a union among themselves, and Ml alliance with the other tribes. By the promise of a tribute for each hut, they succeeded in inducing the Commander to postpone the execution of his resolve until after the harvest A general massacre ensued. M. do Chopart fell by the hands of one of the meanest of the Indians, the Chiefs disdaining to stain their hands with his blood." Bancroft says, — "The Commander Chopart, swayed by a brutal avarice, 28G JESUITS IN AMERICA. t fa the garrison and the colonists, determined them to hasten their enterprise, and to strike their blow sooner than they had agreed with the other confederate tribes. And it was thus that tlicy carried their plan into execution. First they divided themselves and sent into the fort, into the villagCj and into the two grants as many Indians as there were French in each of these places ; then they feigned that they were going out for a grand hunt, and undertook to trade with the French for guns, powder, and ball, oflFering to pay them as much, and even more than was customary, and in truth, as there was no reason to suspect their fidelity, they made at that time an exchange of their poultry and corn, for some arms and ammunition which they used advantageously against us. It is true that some expressed their distrust, but this was thought to have so little foundation, that they were treated as cowards who were frightened at their own shadows. They had been on their guard against the Tchadas, but as for the Natchez, they had never distrusted them, and they were so persuaded of their good faith, that it increased their hardihood. Having thus posted themselves in diiferent houses, provided with the arms obtained from us, they attacked at the same time each his man, and in less than two hours they massacred more than two hundred of the French. The best known are M. de Chepar, Commander of the post, M. du Codere, Commander among the Yazous, M. des Ursins, Messieurs de KoUy, father and son. Messieurs de Longrays, des Noyers, Bailly, &c. The Father du Poisson* had just performed the funeral rites of his associate, the Brother Crucy, who had died very suddenly iVi ^},^i demanded as a plantation the very site o " tlic principal village." {Hist. U. States, iii., p. 360.) And the Jesuit Fatlicr Vivicr, in one of the succeed- ing letters in this volume, from " the Mission to the Illinois." says, when alluding to this massacre, " La lyrannie qiihiti (Commandant Franrois entreprit d'exercer sur eux, les poussa a bout."] * Author of the last two Letters. THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 2S7 of a sun-stroke : he was on his way to consult 31. Perrier, aud to adopt with him proper measures to enable ilic Akcnsas to de- scend to the banks of the Mississippi, for the accommodation of the voyagers. He arrived among the Natchez on the 2Gth. of November, that is, two days before the massacre. The next day, which was the first Sunday of Advent, he said Mass in the Par- ish, and preached in the absence of the Cure. lie was to have returned in the afternoon to his Mission among the Akcnsas, but he was detained by some sick persons, to whom it was neces- sary to administer the Sacraments. On Monday, he was about to say Mass, and to carry the Holy Sacrament to one of those sick persons whom, he had confessed the evening before, when the massacre began ; a gigantic chief six feet in height, seized him, and having thrown him to the ground, cut off his head with hlows of a hatchet. The Father in falling only uttered these words, " Ah, my God ! ah, my God !" M. du Codere drew his sword to defend him, when he was himself killed by a musket ball from another Indian whom he did not perceive. These barbarians spared but two of the Ticnch, a tailor and a carpenter, who were able to serve their wants. They did not treat badly either the negro slaves, or the Indians who were wil- ling to give themselves up ; but they ripped up the belly of every pregnant woman, and killed almost all those who were nursing their children, because they were disturbed by their cries and tears. They did not kill the other women, but made them their slaves, and treated them with every indignity during the two or three months that they were their masters. The least miserable were those who knew how to sew, because they kept them busy in malving shirts, dresses, &c. The others were employed in cut- ting and carrying wood for cooking, and in pounding the corn of which they make their sagamite. But two- things, above all, ag- gravated the grief and hardness of their slavery ; it was, in the first place, to have for masters those same persons whom they had ' ; I is 'till i.Vfi: 111:. : i 288 JESUITS IN AMERICA. m t seen dipping their cruel Lands in the blood of their husbands • and, in the second place, to hear them continually saying, that the French had been treated in the same manner at all the other posts, Lnd that the country was now entirely freed from them. During the massacre, the Sun, or the great Chief of the Nat- chez, was seated quietly under the tobacco shed of the company. His warriors brought to his feet the head of the Commander about which they ranged those of the principal French of the post, leaving their bodies a prey to the dogs, the buzzards, and other carnivorous birds. When they were assured that not another Frenchman remained at the post, they applied themselves to plunder the hous( s, the magazine of the India Company, and all the boats which were still loaded by the bank of the river. They employed the ne- groes to transport the merchandise, which they divided among themselves, with the exception of the munitions of war, which they placed for security in a separate cabin. While the brandy lasted, of which they found a good supply, they passed their days and nights in drinking, singing, dancing, and insulting in the most barbarous manner, the dead bodies and the memory of the French. The Tchadas, and the other Indians being engaged in the plot with them, they felt at their ease, and did not at all fear that they would draw on themselves the vengeance which was merited by their cruelty and perfidy. One night when they were plunged in drunkenness and sleep, Madame Dcs Noyers wished to make use of the negroes to revenge the death of her husband and the French, but she was betrayed by the person to whom she confided her design, and came very near being burned alive. Some of the French escaped the fury of the Indians by taking refuge in the woods, where they sufiered extremely from hunger and the effects of the weather. One of them, on arriving here, relieved us of a little disquietude we felt with regard to the post I ill THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 2S9 an remained f-'S wu occupy among the Yazous, wliicli is not more than forty or fifty leagues above the Natchez by water, and only from fifteen to twenty by land. Not being able longer to endure the extreme cold from which he suffered, he left the woods under cover of night, to go and warm himself in the house of a Frenchman. When he was near it he heard the voices of Indians, and delibe- rated whether he should enter. He determined, however, to do so, preferring rather to perish by the hand of these barbarians, than to die of famine and cold. lie was agreeably surprised when he found these savages eager to render him a service, to heap kindnesses upon him, to commiserate him. to console him, to fur- nish him with provisions, clothes, and a boat to make his escape to New Orleans. These were the Yazous, who were returning from chanting the calumet at Oumas. The Chief charged him to say to M. Perrier, that he had nothing to fear on the part of the Yazous, that " they would not lose their spirit," that is, that they would always remain attached to the French, and that he would be constantly on the watch with his tribe, to warn the French boats that were descending the river to be on their guard against the Natchez. We believed for a long time that the promises of this Chief were very sincere, and feared no more Indian perfidy for our post among the Yazous. But learn, my Ileverend Father, the dispo- sition of these Indians, and how little one is able to trust their words, even when accompanied by the greatest demonstrations of friendship. Scarcely had they returned to their own village, when, loaded with the presents they received from the Natchez, they followed their example and imitated their treachery. Uniting with the Corro7/s, they agreed together to exterminate the French. They began with Father Souel,* the missionary of both tribes, who was then living in the midst of them, in their own village. [• Father Souel was the companion of Father du Poisson, in his '' Voyage up the Mississippi."] U i««i-< m'- Jf ill Mr . ■i' ** *\': iijii i; ^ . jii u : '■' h,^. i 1' i !t "l - 1 ,.A 290 JESUITS IN AMERICA. The fidelity of the Ofogoulas, who were then absent at the chaso has never been shaken, and they now compose one villao-e with the Tonikas. On the nth of December, Father Souel was returning in the evening from visiting the Chief, and while in a ravine, received many musket-balls, and fell dead on the spot. The Indians im- mediately rushed to his cabin to plunder it. His negro, wlio composed all his family and all his defence, armed himself witli a wood-cutter's knife, to prevent the pillage, and even wounded one of the savages. This zealous action cost him his life, but happily, less than a month before he had received baptism, and was living in a most Christian manner. These Indians, who even to that time had seemed sensible of the affection which their Missionary bore them, reproached them- selves for his death as soon as they were capable of reflection ; but returning again to their natural ferocity, they adopted the resolu- tion of putting a finishing stroke to their crime by the destruc- tion of the whole French post. " Since the Black Chief is dead," said they, " it is the same as if all the French were dead — let us not spare any." • The next day they executed their barbarous plan. They repaired early in the morning to the fort, which was not more than a league distant, and whose occupants supposed, on their arrival, that the Indians wished to chant the calumet to the Chevalier des Roches, who commanded that post in the absence of M. de Codere. He had but seventeen men with him, who had no suspicion of any evil design on the part of the savages, and were therefore all massacred, not one escaping their fury. They, how- ever, granted their lives to four women and five children, whom they found there, and whom they^ made slaves. One of the Yazous having stripped the Missionary, clothed himself in his garments, and shortly after announced to the Natchez, that his nation had redeemed their pledge, and that I I- f I: tlie cliaso, lage with ing in tlie 3, received idians im- icgro, who iiiself with .1 wounded s life, but, ptism, and sensible of clied them- cction ; but the resoki- le destruc- 3f is dead," ;ad — let us an. They not more , on their net to the le absence n, who had , and were They, how- ren, whom y, clothed ed to the !, and that I- JS.. I' I THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 291 the French settled among them were all massacred. In this city there was no longer any doubt on that point, as soon as they learned what came near being the fate of Father Doutreleau. This Missionary had availed himself of the time when the In- dians were engaged in their winter occupations, to come and see us, for the purpose of regulating some matters relating to his mission. He set out on the first day of this year, 1730, and not expecting to arrive at the residence of Father Souel, of whose fate he wat. ignorant, in time to say Mass, he determined to say it at the mouth of the little river of the Yazous, where his party had cabined. As he was preparing for this sacred office, he saw a boat full of Indians landing. They demanded from them, of what nation they were ? " Yazous, comrades of the French," they replied, making a thousand friendly demonstrations to the voyagers who accompanied the Missionary, and presenting them with provisions. While the Father was preparing his altar, a flock of bustards passed, and the voyagers fired at them the only two guns they had, without thinking of reloading, as Mass had already com- menced. The Indians noted this, and placed themselves behind the voyagers, as if it was their intention to hear Mass, although they were not Christians. At the time the Father was saying the Ki/rie Eleison, the In dians made their discharge. The Missionary perceiving himself wounded in his right arm, and seeing one of the voyagers killed at his feet, and the four others fled, threw himself on his knees to receive the last fatal blow, which he regarded as inevitable. In this posture he received two or three discharges. But although the Indians fired while almost touching him, yet they did not mflict on him any new wounds. Finding himself, then, as it were, miraculously escaped from so many mortal blows, he took to flight, having on still his priestly garments, and without any other de- fence than an entire confidence in God, whose particular protec- m m t: mi il' mm m I'i'iH mr. 4 'I t: iif 292 JESUITS IN AMERICA. - ^ i ■ mi tion was given him, as the event proved. Ho threw himself into the water, and after advancing some steps, gained the boat in which two .f the voyagers were making their escape. They had supposed him to be killed by some of the many balls which they had heard fired on him. In climbing up into the boat, and turn- ing his head to see whether any one of his pursuers was following him too closely, he received in the mouth a discharge of small shot, the greater part of which wore flattened against his teeth, though some of them entered his gums, and remained there for a long time. I have myself seen two of them. Father Doutreleau. all W9unded as ho was, undertook the duty of steering the boat. while his two companions placed themselves at the oars, l^nfor- tunately one of them, at setting out, had his thigh broken by a musket-ball, from the effects of which he has since remained a cripple. You may well imagine, my Reverend Father, that the mis- sionary and hi." companions had no thoughts of ascending the river. They descended the Mississippi with all the speed possi- ble, and at last lost sight of the boat of their enemies, who had pursued them for more tlian an hour, keeping up a continual fire upon them, and who boasted at the village that they had killed them. The two rowers were often tempted to give themselves up, but encouraged by the missionary, they in their turn made the enemy fear. An old gun which was not loaded, nor in a condition to be, which they pointed at them from time to time, made them often dodge in their boat, and at last obliged them to retire. As soon as they found themselves freed from their enemies, they dressed their wounds as well as they could, and for the pur- pose of aiding their flight from that fatal shoie, they threw into the river everything they had in their boat, preserving only some pieces of raw bacon for thoir nourishment. It had been their intention to stop in passing at the Natchez THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 293 I'l msclf into le boat in They had vhicli they and turn- i following e of small his teeth, there for a )outreleau, g the boat, •s. Unfor- roken by a 'cmained a it the mis- iending the ipeed possi- , who had ntinual fire had killed liemselvcs turn made nor in a me to time, ed them to ir enemies, •or the pur- threw into only some le Natchez but Laving seen that the houses of the French were either de- molished or burned, they did not think it advisable to listen to the compliments of the Indians, >Yho fr'^m the bank of the river invited them to land. They placed a wide distance between them as soon as possible, and thus shunned the balls which were ineffectually fired at them. It was then that they began to dis- trust all these Indian nations, and therefore resolved not to go near the land until they reached New Orleans, and supposing that the savages might have rendered themselves masters of it, to descend even to the Balize, where they hoped to find some French vessel provided to receive the wreck of the colony. In passing the Tonikas, they separated themselves as far as possible from the shore, but they were discovered, and a boat which had been dispatched to reconnoitre them, was not a long time in approaching. Their fear and distrust was renewed, and they did not decide to stop, until they perceived that the persons in that boat spoke very good French, when they overcame their fears, and in the weak state they were, gladly availed themselves of the opportunity to land. There they found the little French army which had been formed, the officers compassionate and every way kind, a surgeon and refreshments. After recovering a little from the great dangers and miseries they had endured, they on the next day availed themselves of a boat which had been fitted out for New Orleans. I cannot express to you, my Reverend Father, the great satis- faction I felt at seeing Father Doutreleau, his arm in a scarf, ar- rive after a voyage of more than four hundred leagues, all the clothes he had on having been borrowed, except his cassock. My surprise was increased at the recital of his adventures. I placed him immediately in the hands of brother Parisel, who ex- amined his wounds, and who dressed them with great care and speedy success. The missionary was not yet entirely cured of his wounds, j^ii: ■Mr ■M - iiiljl ' 111' "! "I .1,1 i 294 JESUITS IN AMERICA. I' i> ■■ when he departed to go and act as chaplain to the French army as he had promised the ofl&cers, in accordance with their request. He endured with them the fatigues of the campaign against tlio Natchez, and there gave new proofs of his zeal, his wisdom, and his courage. On his return from the Natchez, he came to recruit himself here for six weeks, which he found very long, but which appeared to me very short. He was impatient to return to his dear mis- sion, but it was necessary for me to fit him out generally with every thing proper for a missionary, and he was obliged to wait for the escort which was g')iug to the Illinois. Tho risks which they ran on the river during this insurrection of the Indiar.s. in- duced the Commander to forbid voyagers going in separate com- panies. He set out therefore, on the 16th of April, with many others, in a body sufficiently large to relieve them from all fear of their enemies. I learned in fact that they had proceeded above the Akensas, without any accident. The pleasure of seeing Father Doutreleau for the first time, and seeing him too after his escape from such imminent perils, was much impaired by the vivid grief I felt for the loss of two missionaries, with whose merit you were as well acquainted as myself You know that to a most amiable disposition, they united the appropriate qualifications for apostolical men, that they were very much attached to their mission, that they had already be- come well acquainted with the language of the Indians, that tlicir earliest labors had produced great fruits, and they gave the pro- mise of still greater results, since neither of them was more tlian thirty-five or thirty-six years of ago. This deprivation, wliicli entirely occupied my thoughts, gave me no tiine for thinking of the loss we had sustained of their negroes and their effects, al though it very much deranged a mission which had just been commenced, and whose necessities you know better than any one else, I THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 295 But nothing has happened to these two excellent missionarica for which we should mourn, or for which they were not prepared when they devoted themselves to the Indian missions in this colony. This disposition alone, independent of every thing else, has without doubt placed a great diflFcrence in the eyes of Ciod between their death and that of the others, who have fallen mar- tyrs to the French name. But I am well persuaded, that the fear of a similar fate will not in the least diminish the zeal of those of our Fathers who had thought of following them, neither will it deter our Superiors from responding to the holy desires they may have of sharing our labors. Knowing, as you do, my Reverend Father, the vigilance and the oversight of our Governor, you can well imagine that he did not sleep in this sad crisis in which we now found ourselves. Wo may say without flattery, that he surpassed himself by the rapid movements he made, and by the wise measures he adopted to revenge the French blood which had been shed, and to pre- vent the evils with which almost all the posts of the colony were threatened. As soon as he was apprised of this unexpected attack by the Natchez Indians, he caused the news to be carried to all the posts, and even as far as the Illinois, not by the direct and ordi- nary route of the river, which was closed, but on one side by Natchitoches and the Akensas, and on the other by Mobile and the Tchicachas* He invited the neighbors who were our allies, and particularly the Tchactas^\ to avenge this perfidy. He furnished arms and ammunition to all the houses of this city and to the plantations. He caused two ships, that is, the Due do Bourbon md the Alexandre, to ascend the river as far as the Tonikaa. These ?hips were like two good fortresses against the insults of the In- dians, and in case of attack, two certain asylums for the women and children. He caused a ditch to be dug entirely around the [* The Chickasaws.] [t The Choctaws.] t • • •i'! m m ".'!■(!:■■■' I'll !i ■ (I N ■ :ii;' 206 JESUITS IN AMERICA. city, and placed guard-Louscs at the four extremities. He or- ganized for its defence many companies of city militia, who mounted guard during the wliole night* As tiierc was more to fear in the grants and in the plantations! than in the city, he for- tified them with the most care. He had good forts erected at ChapUoulas, at Cannes brtilcSj at AUemands, at Bayagoulas^ and at roiate Coupee. At first, our Governor, listening only to the dictates of his own courage, adopted the design of placing himself at the head of the troops, but it was represented to him, that he ought not to quit New Orleans, where his presence was absolutely necessary, that there was danger of the Tchadas determining to fall upon the city, if it should be deprived of its troops ; and the negroes, to free themselves from slavery, might join them, as some had done with the Natchez. Moreover he could feel perfectly easy with regard to the conduct of the troops, as the Chevalier de Loubois, with whose experience and bravery he was well acquainted, had been appointed to command them. Whilst our little army was repairing to the Tonikas, seven hundred Tchadas mustered, and conducted by M. le Sueur, marched towards the Natchez. We were informed by a party of these people, that the Indians were not at all on their guard, but passed all their nights in dancing. The Tchadas took them therefore by surprise, and made a descent on them on the 27th of January, at the break of day. In less than three hours they had delivered fifty-nine persons, both women and children, with the tailor and carpenter, and one hundred and six negroes or ne- gro women with their children ; they made eighteen of the [* As late as 1750, Father Vivicr thus describes New Orleans, in a letter ; "It is tolerably handsome, the streets are laid out straight, some of the houses are brick and others of ■wood, and its population consists of French, negroes, and some Indian slaves, who together do not seem to amount, as it appears to me, to more than a thousand or twelve hu.idrcd persons.] -• '1'*, THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 297 Natchez prisoners and took sixty scalps. Tliey would have taken more, if they had not been intent on freeing the slaves, as they had been directed. They had but two men killed and seven or eight wounded. They encamped with their prizes at the grant of St. Catherine, in a mere park enclosed with stakes. The vic- tory would have been complete, if they had waited the arrival of the French army, as had been agreed upon with their deputies. The Natchez seeing themselves attacked by the formidable Tchactaf!, regarded their defeat as certain, and shutting themselves up in two forts, passed the following nights in dancing their death dance. In their speeches we heard them reproaching the T'-li,!: t '1'^ iii: 303 JESUITS IN AMERICA. You may well imagincj my Reverend Father, Low much these holy females were charmed to find in au ludian, seutimouts so reasonable and Christian-like. AluJ ! it will take time and pains to teach the Tchactas to think and speak in this way. This in- deed can only be the work of Ilim, who knows how, ^Nhen it pleases Him, to change the stones into children of Abraham. Chikagoii gaurds most carefully, in a bag made expressly for the purpose, the magnificent snuff-box which the late Madame, the Duchess d' Orleans, gave him ?,t Versailles. Notwithstand- ing all the offers made to him, he has never been willing to part with it, a degree of consideration very remarkable in an Indian, whose characteristic generally is, to be in a short time disgusted with anything he has, and passionately desire whatever he sees, but does not own. Everything which Chikagou has related to his countrymen, with regard to France, has appeared to them incredible. " They have bribed you," said some to him, " to make us believe all these beautiful fictions." " We are willing to believe," said his relatives, and those by whom his sincerity was least suspected, " that you have really seen all that you tell us, but there must have been some charm which fascinated your eyes, for it is not possible that France can be such as you have painted it." When he told them that in France they were accustomed to have five cabins, one on top of the other, and that they were as high as the tallest trees, that there were as many people in the streets of Paris, as there were blades of grass on the prairies, or musquitoes in the woods, and that they rode about there, and even made long journeys in moving cabins of leather, they did not credit it any more than when he added that he had seen long cabins full of sick people, where skilful surgeons performed the most wonderful cures, " Hear !" he would say to them in sport, " you may lose an arm, a leg, an eye, a tooth, a breast, if you are in France, and they will supply you with others, so that it will not be noticed." THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 303 ;:!' ch these iioutb so 11(1 pains This in- wheu it lam. essly for MuJaino, ithstuiid- g to part 1 Indian, Jisgusted ' he sees, ntrynieu, » They all these relatives, that you ave been sible that old them one on est trees, as there le woods, irneys in ore than k people, 111 cures. D an arm, xnd they noticed." ?i. a I What most embarrassed Mama/itoucnsa, when ho saw the ships, was to know how it was possible to launch them into t\e water after they had been built on land, where arms enough could bo found for this purpose, and above all to rai.sc the anchors with their enormous weights. They explained both these points to him, and he admired tlic genius of the French who were capablo of such beautiful inventions. The Illinois departed on the last day of June ; they were to unite with the Akensas, for the purpose of falling on the Yazous and on the Corroys. These last having set out on their retreat to the TchiJcasas, whither they were carrying the French scalps they had taken, were met on the way by the Tchatchousmas and by some Tchadas, who in their contest with them took eighteen scalps and delivered some French women vith their children. Some time afterwards, they were again attacked by a party of the Akeiisas, who took from them four scalps, and made many of their women prisoners. These good Indians encountered on their return two boats of French hunters ; they passed their hands over them from head to foot, according to their custom, in testifying their sorrow for the death of the French, and of their Father in Jesus Christ. They made a solemn oath, that while one Akeasa should be remaining in the world, the Natchez and the 1 azous should never be without an enemy. They showed a bell and some books, which they were taking home, they said, for the first Black Chief who should come to their village. These were all that they had found in the cabin of Father Souel. I was in pain to learn what these barbarians had done with the body of this missionary, but a French woman who was then their slave, has informed me, that she at last induced them to give it burial. " I saw him," she would often say to me, '• lying on his back in the canes very near his house ; they had not taken from him any- thing but his cassock. Although he had been dead fifteen days, jH!i I: .. I 1'^ 111! 310 JESUITS IN AMERICA. his skin was still as white, and his checks as red as if he were merely sleeping. I was tempted to examine where ho had re- ceived the fatal blow, but respect stopped my curiosity ; I placed myself a moment at )iis knees, and have brought away his hand- kerchief which was near him." The faithful Akctisas mourned every day in their village tlio death of Father du Poisson, and with the most earnest entrea- ties, demanded another missionary. Wo could not excuse our- selves from granting this request to a nation so amiable, and at all times so attached to the French, possessing too a degree of modesty of which the other nations were ignorant, and among whom there exists no peculiar obstacle to Christianity, except their extreme attachment to jugglery. But we have endeavored, my Keverend Father, to console our- selves in our grief with an argument of which you would never think. It is, that we may congratulate ourselves our loss has not been more general. In fact, the two dear missionaries for whom we mourn, did not appear to be by any means as much ex- posed to the cruelty of the Indians as are many others, particu- larly Father de Guyenne, and still more Father Baudouin. The latter is without any defence in the midst of the great na- tion of the Tchadas. "VVe have always had a great distrust of these Indians, even at the time when they were making war for us upon the Natchez. Now they have become so inflated with their pretended victory, that we have much more need of troops to repress their insolence, and to keep them in their duty, than to finish the destruction of our open enemies. Father de Guyenne, after much opposition on the part of the Indians in the neighborhood of Carolina, succeeded in building two cabins in two diiFerent villages, to be near at hand to learn their language and to instruct them ; but they were both demol- ished. Ke will be obliged at last to confine his zeal to the THE MASSACRE BY THE NATCHEZ. 311 French fort of the AlUxiniunx^ or to seek a more ubuuJunt har- vest on the banks of the IMississippi, It only remains, my Reverend Father, to inform you of tht situation of our enemies. They arc united near the river of the Ouachitaa^ on which they have three forts. \Vc believe that the Natchez arc as yet in number about five liundred Avarriors, witii- out counting their women and children ; they were scarcely more than seven hundred before the war. Among the Ydzons and the Corroys there are not more than forty warriors. They have planted their corn between two little rivers which run near their forts. It would only be necessary to cut ofT this corn, to starve them during the winter, but the thing is not easy to effect, from «yhat the smaller tribes inform us, who liarass them continually. The country is cut up by Bayoulcs* and filled with cane-brakes, where the inconceivable quantity of mu.squitoes would not permit an ambuscade to be established for any length of time. The Natchez, who were shut up in their forts since the last ex- pedition, have begun again to show themselves. Incensed that a party from Oumas and Bayagoulas had captured one of their boats, in which were seven men, a woman, and two children, they went in great numbers near a small fort, where they have sur- prised ten Frenchmen and twenty negroes. There was but one small soldier with two negroes who were able to save themselves. He had formerly escaped the massacre made by the Natchez by concealing himself in an oven, and this time he escaped by hid- ing in the trunk of a tree. You can well believe, my Reverend Father, that this war has retarded the French colony ; nevertheless, we flatter ourselves that this misfortune will be productive of benefit, by determining the Court to send the forces necessary to tranquillize the colony and render it flourishing. Although they have nothing to fear at New Orleans, either from the smaller neighboring tribes, [* A bayou is a water-course connecting the lakes or rivers.] U I 'ill! M ll! 3ia JESUITS IN AMERICA. whom our negroes nloue couM finish in a single morni'^^) or oven from the Tr/iartns, who would not dare to expose themselves on the lake in any great numbers, yet a panic terror lias spread it- self over almost every spirit, particularly with the females. They will, however, be reassured by the arrival of tlie first troops from France, whom we arc now constantly expecting. As far as our missionaries arc concerned, they arc very tranc^uil. The per- ils to which they sco themselves exposed seem to increase their joy and animate their zeal. Bo mindful then of them and of mc in your holy prayers, in the union with which I am with re spect, &o. [It may, perhaps, interest the reader to know the future history of the Natchez. They had fled across the Mississippi, and erected tlieir fortifica- tions about 180 miles up the Red River. Here the letter of Father Ic Petit leaves them. The French, having obtained a reinforcement, pursued them, attacked them in their fort, and after a sanguinary struggle, obliged them to surrender at discretion. Their women and cliildren were reduced to slavery, and compelled to work in the plantations. Of the surviving warriors, some fled still farther to the West, some remained with the Chickasas, and others found a shelter among the Muskhogees, among whom their ancient language is still preserved. The Great Sun and more than four hundred prisoners were shipped to Hispaniola, and sold aa slaves. Thus perished the tribe of the Natchez.] J, or even Helvi's on ro:iil it- fonmlcs. •st tronpg Ab far as The pLT- msc their 1 and of I with re ory of the r fortifica- icr Ic Petit sued them, c(l tliem to to slavery, riors, some ami others it language prisoners ho tribe of \ LETTER XI. FROM FATHER VIVIER, OF THE COMPANY OF JESUS, TO A FATHER OF THE SAME COMPANY. At Illinois, the 17tli of November, 1750. MY REVEREND FATHER, The Peace of our Lord be with you : I ACCEPT with pleasure the proposition which you make. The slight merit that I can acquire by my labors I willingly consent to share with you, in the assurance which you give, that you will aid me with your holy prayers. I gain too much by this association not to enter into it with all my heart. Another point which you desire, and on which I am going to satisfy you, is the detail of our Missions. We have three stations in .this part of the world, one of Indians, one of French, and a third composed partly of French and partly of Indians. The first contains more than six hundred Illinois, all bap- tized with the exception of five or six; but the "fire water" which is sold them by the French, and especially by the soldiers, in spite of the reiterated prohibitions on the part of the king, and that which is sometimes distributed to them, under pretext of maintaining them in our interests, has ruined that Mission, and caused the greater part of its converts to abandon our holy religion. The Indian, and parficularly the Illinois, who at other times are the gentlest and most tractable of men, become when intoxicated, frantic and brutally ferocious. Then, they attack each other with their knives, inflicting terrible wounds. Some have lost their ears, and others a part of the nose, in these trr.gi- 316 JESUITS IN AMERICA. cal scenes. The greatest good that we do among them, is the administration of baptism to children who are at the point of death. It is at this station that I have my ordinary residence with Father Guienne, who acts as my instructor in the study of the Illinois language. The French Cure where Father Vattrin labors, is composed of more than four hundred French of every age, and more than two hundred and fifty negroes. The third Mission, seventy leagues from here, is much smaller ; it is under the charge of Father Meurin. The rest of our Mission in Louisiana consists of a residence at New Orleans, where the Superior General of the Mission lives, together with one of the Fathers, and two Lay- Brethren. "We have there a large plantation, which is now in a good condition. It is from the revenues of this plantation, to- gether with their pensions from the king, that the wants of the Missionaries are supplied. When the Mission is sufficiently provided with laborers, (and in this colony they ought to be at least twelve in number,) we must establish one among the Akansas, another among the Tchactas, and a third among the Alibamons. The Reverend Fa- ther Baudouin, the actual Superior General of the Mission, resided formerly among the Tchactas ; ho remained for eighteen years among these savages. When he was on the point of reaping some fruits from his labors, the troubles which the English excited in that nation, and the peril to which he was evidently exposed, obliged Father Vitri, then Superior General, in concert with the Governor, to recall him to New Orleans. Now that these diffi- culties begin to abate, they think of re-establishing the Mission. Father Moran has been for some years among the Alibamons. The impossibility however of exercising his ministry there, for the benefit either of the Indians or French, has induced the Supe- rior to recall him, that he might be entrusted with the direction of the Nuns and of the Royal Hospital which is now under our charge. MISSION TO THE ILLINOIS. 317 The English trade, as well as the French, among the AHba- mon Indians. You can easily imagine what an obstacle this presents to the progress of Religion, for the English are always ready to excite controversy. Among the Akansas we have now actually no one, were those poor savages in a state to make any choice on this subject. Such, my Reverend Father, is the state of our Mission. The rest of my letter will be taken up with a short description of the country.* On ascending the Mississippi, we find French settlements above New Orleans as well as below. The largest of these is a little colony originally founded by Germans, [Allemands) at ten leagues distance from the city. Pointe Coupee is thirty-five leagues from the Germans ; they have constructed there a fort of pine, in which a small garrison is maintained. On the western bank of the river, we can count sixty settlements in a space of five or six leagues. Fifty leagues from Pointe Coupee is Natchez ; here we have scarcely more than a garrison imprisoned, so to speak, in a fort, through fear of the Chicachats and other hostile Indians. There were formerly as many as sixty dwellings at this point, and a powerful Indian tribe by the name of the Natchez, who were much attached to us, and from whom we received important ser- vices ; but the tyranny which a French Commander exercised to- wards them, drove them to extremities. In one single day they put all the French to the sword, with the exception of a few who managed to escape. One of our Fathers who was descending the Mississippi, and who was induced to remain for the purpose of [* We omit the greater part of this letter, because the descriptions of the Illinois country are but a repetition of those given by Father Marest in the former letter. The parts we have selected are interesting, as showing the state in 1750 of those missions and settlements of ■which Fathers du Poissou, and le Petit gave an account more than twenty years before. This lettei,. therefore, furnishes a fit conclusion to their nari-atives.] ill 318 JESUITS IN AMERICA. saying Mass on Sunday, was involved in the destruction. Since then we have avenged this blow by bhe almost total annihilation of the Natchez tribe. There remain but a few of thenl scattered among the Chicachats and the Oheraquis, where their situation is as precarious as that of slaves. A hundred leagues above the Natchez are the Akansas, an In- dian tribe of about four hundred warriors. We have near them a garrisoned fort, to furnish succors to the convoys which are as- cending to the Illinois country. At this place there were formerly some settlers, but in the month of May, 1748, the Chicachats, our irreconcilable enemies, aided by other savage tribes, attacked this post suddenly, killed several persons, and led thirteen away cap- tive. The rest took refuge in the fort, which contained at that time not more than a dozen soldiers. They made a show of at- tacking it, but had not lost more than two men when they beat a retreat. Their drummer was a French deserter from this same garrison at the Akansas. The distance from the Akansas to the Illinois is nearly one hundred and fifty leagues ; through all that extent of country there is not a single settlement. Nevertheless, to ensure us its possession, it would be well if we had a good fort upon the Ouabache* the only place where the English can enter the Mis- sissippi. There are in this part of Louisianaf five French villages, and three belonging to the Illinois, in a space of twenty-two leagues, situated on an extensive prairie, bounded at the east by a chain of mountains, and the river of the Tamarouas, and at the west by the Mississippi. These five French villages contain about one [* The Ohio river.] [t Father Vivier is here speaking of the country now called Illinois. The name of Louisiana seems then to have been given to the whole West.] 1^ MISSION TO THE ILLINOIS. 310 Since iliilation scattered uatioQ is ls, an In- 3ar them h are as- formerly zhats^ our 3ked fhis way cap- 1 at that DW of at- ;hey beat bhis same arly one country re us its ipon the the Mis- iges, and ► leagues, jr a chain 3 west by bout one nois. The est.] hundred and forty families. The three Indian villages can fur- nish three hundred men capable of bearing arms. # * # * # It At the north and north-west, the country is unlimited in ex- tent. It comprises that immense tract watered by the Missouri and its tributary streams, the most beautiful region in the world. What a field do these Indian tribes offer for the zeal of the mis- sionary ! They belong to the district of the priests of the For- eign Missions, to whom for several years past the Bishop of Quebec has given them in charge. There are three of these priests here, who have charge of the two French Cures ; nothing can be more lovely than their character, or more edifying than their conduct. We live with them as if we were members of the same fraternity. Among the tribes in Missouri, there are some who seem most favorably disposed for the reception of the Gospel ; for example, the Panismahas. One of the priests of whom I have just spoken, wrote one day to a Frenchman who was trading with these In- dians, and begged him in his letter to baptize those of their chil- dren whom he found at the point of death. The Chief of the village seeing the letter, asked, "What is the news?" "None," answered the Frenchman. " What !" said the Indian, " because we are red men, may we not know the news ?" " It is from the Black Chief," replied the Frenchman, " he has written advising me to baptize the children who are dying, so that they may go to the Great Spirit." The Indian Chief, perfectly satisfied, said to him, " Do not put yourself to any trouble in this matter, I will take upon myself the task of giving you notice whenever there shall be a child in danger." He assembled his people: "What do you think," said he to them, " of this Black Chief?" (for it is , thus that they call the missionaries,) "we have never seen him, we have never done him any service, he dwells ff>r from u?; to- wards the rising of the sun, and yet he thinks ot our village ; 320 JESUITS IN AMERICA. he wishes to do us good, and when our children come to die, he wishes to send them to the Great Spirit ; this Black Chief must be very good." Some merchants who came from his village, told me of traits which prove, that though a savage, he is not wanting in wit or good sense. At the death of his predecessor, the votes of his tribe were unanimously given in his favor. He at first excused himself from accepting the rank of Chief, but at last, being con- strained to acquiesce, " You wish, then," said he, " that I should be your Chief; I consent to it, but know that I will be in reality Chief, and in this capacity will exact implicit obedience. Hitherto the widows and orphans have been much neglected ; I require that in future their wants shall be provided for ; and in order that they may never be forgotten, I require that they shall receive the first share." He therefore ordered his Escapia^ who is his steward, whenever they went to the chase, to reserve a quantity of food sufiicient for the widows and orphans. These people have as yet but few guns among them. They hunt on horseback with arrows and lances. They surround a herd of buffaloes, and but few of them escape. The animals being brought down, the Escapia of the Chief lays his hand on a certain number of them, which form the portion of the widows and orphans, and no one is perniiLted to touch any of them. One of the hunters having, inadvertently without doubt, commenced cutting from this portion, the Chief killed him on the spot with his gun. This Chief receives the French with great distinction. He does not permit them to eat except with himself, or with some Chief of a strange tribe, if he happens to meet with any. He honors with the title of the Sun the most despicable of the French who find their way to his village, and therefore says, that the sky is always clear as long as the French remain there. A month ago he came to salute our Commander, and I went to the fort of MISSION TO THE ILLINOIS. 321 Chartrcs, six leagues from lience, on purpose to see him. I found him to be an exceedingly handsome man. He treated me with great politeness, and invited mo to go and give the spirit to hia people, that is to say, to instruct them. His village, according to the report of the French who have been there, can furnish nine hundred men capable of bearing arms. In conclusion, I would remark, that this country is rf much greater importance than is commonly supposed. From its situa- tion alone it is well that France should spare no pains to preserve it. It is true that it has not yet enriched the coffers of the King, and that it is expensiA^e to defend it ; but it is not less true that the tranquillity of Canada and the safety of the whole lower colony depend on it. Certainly without this post, there would bo no land communication between Louisiana and Canada. Another consideration is, that many parts of Canada, and all those below the river, would be deprived of the provisions which are brought from the Illinois, and which are often their chief dependence. By establishing here a permanent settlement, the King would prevent all these inconveniences, and would confirm himself in the possession of the most extensive and most beautiful country in Northern America. To be entirely convinced of this, he has only to cast his eyes on the map of Louisiana, to consider the situation of the Illinois, and the multitude of tribes to whom this post would serve as a barrier. I am, in the communion of our holy faith, &o 15* INDEX. Abnakis, manners and customs of, 24. Amalingans, baptism of, 49. Amalingans, conference with, 45. Arkansas, mission to the, 267. Badouin, Father, 310. Baptism of an Indian girl, 43. Baton Rouge, 243. Beaubois, Father de, 231. Bellemont, M. de, 76. Benac, M. de, 236. Bergier, M. de, 211, 214. Bineteau, Father, 206, 209. Bourg la Marque, M. du, 184. Bruyas, Father, 85, 99. Buisson, M. du, 241. Cannibals, 155, 167. Canoes, 25, 153. Catherine, the Iroquois saint, 81, 86. Chardon, Father, 221, 223. Chasse, Father de la, 12, 69. Chaumont, Father, 29. Chepar, M. de, 286. Chollonec, Father, 81, 121. Church and Chapels, 2, 6, 42, 58, 60. Codere, M. du, 286, 290. Colombiere, M. de la, 116. Copperel, M., 154. Corbi^se, M. de, 162. Dalofis, Father, 206. D'Artaguette, M., 298. Davion, M., 240. Des Noyers, Madame, 288. Doutreleau, Father, 231, 292,294. Dubreuil, M., 233. Dudley, Gov., conference with, 51, 56. Dumas, Father, 231, 241, 260, 252. English ill treatment of Indians, 9. English interference with French missions, 7, 16. Etienne, the martyr, 119, 131. Fiesch, M., 188. Fishing, 39, 58, 61, 144 Fontbranc, M., 169. Fort George, 168. Fort George, expedition against, 161, 163. Fort George, surrender of, 177. Fort Lidis, 148, 167, 174 81. Fort Vaudreuil, 145. Franijoise, the martyr, 124. French and Indian war, incidents of, 148, 163, 171, 174, 182. 824 INDEX. Fremin, Father, 85, 124. Fruits, 198,238. Funeral rites of Indians, 1G6, 282. Germans, 286, 262. Grant, explanation o':' a, 233. Gravier, Father, 205, 215, 224. Great Hare, family of the, 82, 34. Guienne, Father de, 232. Guignas, Father, 305. Hunting and game, 30, 68, Gl, 196, 209, 235. Illinois country, 196. Illinois country , journey through, 30, 30, 216. Illinois, character and customs of, of, 37, 199, 306, 315. Indian children, 26. Indian corn, 27. Indian devotion to missionary, 61. Indian dresa and ornaments, 37, 83, 198. Indian feast, 36. Indian religion, 6, 44, 106, 147, 200. Indian warfare, 54, 218, 277. Indian character, 158, 194, 223, 258. Indian language, 27. logues. Father, 84. Iroquois, missionaries to the, 84. Jamonville, M. de, 174. Jeanne, the martyr, 133. Koli, M. de, 233. Kolly, Messieurs de, 286^ Lamberville, Father, 87. Lnurcl, 8. Luth, M. du, 116. Launay, M. do, 178. Laws, M., 201. Le Petit, Father, 232, 208. Levi, Chevalier de, 162, 164, 163, 107, 180. Le Sueur, M., 296. Longrays, Messieurs de, 286. Manitou of Indians, 84, 200. Maple sugar, 6. Marest, Father, 193, 216. Marin, M., 148. Mathavet, M., 140, 165. Marquet, Father, 20'" Marguerite, the martyr, 127. Marriage customs, 86, 275. Massacre by the Natchez, 285. Medicine men, 200, 280. Mermet, Father, 202, 210, 215. Mezieres, M., 244. Michigan Lake, 222. Michniimakinac, 222. Mississippi river, 196. Mississippi river, floods on, 236. Mississippi, voyage up the, 231. Missouri river, 196, 226. Montcalm, Marquis de, 145, 163, 165, 169, 177, 175, 181. Moreau, M., 109. Musquitoes, 237, 239. Nanrantsouack village, 2, 50. Nanrantsouack, attack on, 70. Natchez, 247, 267, 317. Natchez, character and customs of, 209, 282, 300. Natchez, temple of, 268. INDEX. 82ft Ohio or Ouabacho rivor, 197, 220. Orleans, Mad. la Ducliesse de, 308. Periet, Father, 211. Perrier, M., 287, 298, 801, 803. Philibert, Father, 247. Picquet, M., 140, 180. Pinot, Father, 200. Plantations, 234. Poisson, Father du, 231, 267, 810. Polygamy, 42, 270. Prayer, 27, 41. Prisoners, treatment of, 41, 149, 165. Raslcs, Father, 1, 0, 23, 09, 72. Rasles, Father, death of, 70. Rattlesnakes, 102. Religious services, 4, 204, 212. Roches, Chevalier des, 290. Roubaud, Father, 139. Saint Casteins, M. de, 13. Saint Come, M. de, 243. Saintout, M. de, 140. Saint Michel, M. de, 120. Saint Regis, picture of, 263. Scioux Indians, 226. Simon, 232. Souel, Father, 282, 242, 260, 203, 290. Tartarin, Father, 231. Thracy, M. de, 83. Tonicas, 244. Tonti, Chevalier de, 195 Tripe de Roche, 31, 03. Trees, 197. Turtles' eggs, 248. Ursins, M. des, 280. Vaudrcuil, Marquis de, 10, 13, 139. Veillers, M. de, 174. Ville, Father de, 220 Virot, Father, 139. War feast, 141. Wax, 3. Yonn, Colonel, 181.