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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43326	A new discovery of a vast country in America extending above four thousand miles between New France and New Mexico, with a description of the great lakes, cataracts, rivers, plants and animals : also the manners, customs, and languages of the several native Indians ... : with a continuation, giving an account of the attempts of the Sieur De la Salle upon the mines of St. Barbe, &c., the taking of Quebec by the English, with the advantages of a shorter cut to China and Japan : both parts illustrated with maps and figures and dedicated to His Majesty, K. William / by L. Hennepin ... ; to which is added several new discoveries in North-America, not publish'd in the French edition.; Nouvelle découverte d'un très grand pays situé dans l'Amérique entre le Nouveau Mexique et la mer Glaciale. English	Hennepin, Louis, 17th cent.; La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de, 1643-1687.; Joliet, Louis, 1645-1700.; Marquette, Jacques, 1637-1675.	1698 (1698)	Wing H1450; ESTC R6723	330,063	596

black Tobacco which they love mightily theirs is not so well prepar'd nor so strong as that of Martenico of which sort mine was I gave them to understand I gave it them to Smoak and not the Dead Man because he had no need of it Some of the Salvages there present heard what I said very seriously and attentively concerning the other State and appeared very ready to listen to me but the rest said in their Country Dialect Tepatoui that is behold what is good In the mean time they fell to smoaking in good earnest without concerning themselves any further about being benefited by my Discourse I took notice that the Tears which they shed for the Dead and the Ceremonies they used upon that account by rubbing his Corps with Bears Oil and the like things were more the effect of Custom and Ancient Prescription to which they are tyed by Traditions that seem to have something of Judaism in them than any proper Application of theirs to these Usages I do not absolutely despair of the Salvation of these Barbarians but do believe that God will find proper means for the enlightning them in the glorious Light of the Gospel since this Holy Doctrine must be preached to all the Nations of the Earth before our Blessed Saviour com●●●o Judge the Quick and the Dead CHAP. XXIX Of the Superstition of the Savages and their ridiculous Beliefs I Know long since that all the Arts and Endeavou●s used by Man for the Conversion of Infidels will signifie nothing till such time as it shall please God to bless their undertakings to that end How shall they believe who have not heard says the Apostle Paul How shall they understand without a Preacher And who shall Preach if there be none sent The sound of the Apostles is gone through all the Earth and their word● have reached to the utmost bounds of the World I heartily wish that the sound of the Apostles successors would bring to Life those vast numbers of Savages which I have seen in my Travels they have laboured there a long time but generally speaking no considerable Progress hath been made therein to this day these blinded People are so wedded to their Superstitious ways Some of these Barbarians are more Superstitious than others especially the Older sort of them and the Women maintain the Traditions of their Ancestors with a strange o●●●ionativeness when I told them they were void of Understanding to believe such Dreams and idle Fancies and that they ought not to be wedded to Follies of this kind They wou'd say to me Of what Age art thou Thou dost not seem to be above Five and Thirty or Forty Years Old and dost thou pretend to know things better than we who are Old Men Fie thou knowest not what thou fayest thou may'st know what has past in thy own Country added these Old Dotards For thy Ancestors have told thee of them but thou canst not know what hath passed in ours before the Spirits that is to say the Europeans came hither I made answer to these Barbarians that we know all by the Scriptures which the great Author of Life hath given us by his Son that this Son Suffered Death that he might deliver all Men from a place of Everlasting Burnings from which there had been no Redemption unless he had come into the World to free us from Sin and Death that all Mankind became Guilty and sinned in Adam The first Man c. These Savages who had admirable natural Wit readily retorted upon me Are you assured that we were here before you Europeans came into these Countries and being usually answered No we are not Then said they you do not then know all by the Scriptures they do not tell you every thing It s not to be doubted but much time is required to make them sensible of the falsity of their Superstitions and much more to perswade them of the Truths of the Gospel There is none but God alone that by the anointing of his Spirit and Grace can incline their Hearts and make known unto them the Truths appertaining to their Salvation but yet it does not follow hence that those who labour in the Gospel should give over their Endeavours this way The time will come when Men shall prefer the interests of Jesus Christ before their own and then there shall be but one Shepherd and one Fold all foreign Nations shall come in in the time of God's allotment for this grand Event There are many of the Savages who laugh at those things which their Old pretended Sages relate unto them and others that give credit to what they say 〈◊〉 I have already recounted the Sentiments they have concerning their Original and the Cure of their Diseases They have some notion of the Immortality of the Soul for say they there is a very delicious Country towards the West where there is rare Hunting and where they may kill as many Wild Beasts as they please 't is there say these poor blinded ones that Men's Souls go and they hope then to see them all again in that place but they are much more ridiculous in what they say concerning the Souls of Kettles Muskets Fire-Forks and other Arms which they place near the Sepulchres of their Dead that they may go with them and serve for their use in the Soul's Country as they do here One Day a Savage Maiden being Dead after she had been Baptized and the Mother happening to see one of her Slaves at the point of Death also she said my Daughter is gone alone in●o the Country of the Dead among the Europeans without Relations and without Friends Lo now it 's Spring time she must therefore sow Indian Corn and Gourds Baptize my Slave added she before he Dies that he may go also into that Country whither the Souls of the Europeans after their Deaths go to the end he may serve my Daughter there A Savage Woman being at the point of departure she cried I will not be Baptized for the Savages who die Christians are burnt in the Country of Souls by the Europeans and certain Savages said one day that we Baptized them to make them Slaves in the other World I have been asked by others if there was good Game for Hunting in that Country whither I would have their dying Infants to go after being Baptized and when I made answer that they live there without Eating or Drinking because they are fully satiated with the Contemplation of the great master of Life we will not go thither said they because we must not eat and when I have added that there would be no occasion for Food there they clapt their hands to their Mouths as a sign of admiration and said Thou art a great Lyar is there any thing can live without Eating A Sa●age was pleased one day to relate unto us the following Story One of our Old Men said he happening to Die and being come to the Country of Souls he presently met with

which I have already mention'd And of this he assur'd me more than once before his departure from the Illinois The Savages wou'd never have suffer'd us to have made this Voyage without one of the three being left with them And my self was the Man they pitch'd upon to stay by the Advice of the great Captain Ouasicoude whilst the two Canow-Men were at Liberty to proceed on their Voyage But Michael Ako who was apprehensive of the many Hardships he was like to meet with in this Expedition cou'd never be prevail'd upon to consent to it So that seeing he began to relish the Barbarian's way of living I desir'd their Chief that I might have leave to accompany the Picard in his stead who accordingly granted my Request Our whole Equipage consisted in fifteen or twenty Charges of Powder a Fusil a little sorry Earthen Pot which the Barbarians gave us a Knife between us both and a Garment of Castor Thus were we equipt for a Voyage of 250 Leagues but our greatest Trust was in Providence As we were carrying our little Canow to the Fall of St. Anthony of Padua we perceiv'd five or six Savages who were got there before us One of them was got up into an Oak over against the great Fall of Water where he was weeping most bitterly having fasten'd to one of the Branches of the Tree a Robe of Castor which was White within-side and garnish'd with Porcupine The poor Wretch had offer'd it in Sacrifice to the Fall which indeed of it self is terrible and hath something in it very astonishing However it doth not come near that of Niagara I cou'd hear him say as he was addressing himself to the Cascade with Tears starting in his Eyes Thou art a Spirit grant that Those of my Nation may pass here without any Disaster That we may meet with a great many Wild-Bulls and that we may be so happy as to vanquish our Enemy and take a great many Slaves whom when we have made them suffer according to their Merits we will bring hither and slay in thy Presence The M●ss●nacks 't is so they call the Nation of the Outtouagamis have slain some of our Kindred Grant we may be able to revenge our selves upon 'em for that Affront The last part of his Request hapned to be fulfill'd sooner I believe than he expected For as they return'd from Hunting the Wild-Bulls they attack'd their Enemy kill'd a good many of them and carry'd off several Slaves whom they put to death before the Fall after the most barbarous and inhumane manner in the World as we shall see in the Second Volume Now if after such a barbarous Ceremony as I have been describing it happen but once that the Success answers the Request 't is sufficient to render them obstinate in their superstitious Custom tho' it miscarry a hundred times for once that it hi●s As for the Castor-Robe which was thus offer'd as a sort of Sacrifice one of our Europeans made bold with it at his return and wou'd have been glad of having more frequent Opportunities of profiting by their Devotions When we had got about a League below the Fall the Picard miss'd his Powder-Horn and remembring he had left it there was forc'd to go back and fetch it At his Return I shew'd him a huge Serpent as big as a Man's Leg and seven or eight Foot long He was working himself insensibly up a steep and craggy Rock to get at the Swallow's Nests which are there in great Numbers And at the Bottom of the Mountain we saw the Feathers of those he had already devour'd We pelted him so long with Stones till at length he fell into the River His Tongue which was in form of a Launce was of an extraordinary length His Hiss might be heard a great way and the Noise of it seiz'd us with Horror The poor Picard dreamt of him at Night and was in a great Agony all the while He told me I had done him a sensible Kindness in waking him for tho' he was a Man intrepid enough yet he was all in a sweat with the fright of his Dream I have likewise my self been often disturb'd in my sleep with the Image of him so great an Impression did the sight of this Monster make upon our Spirits As we were falling down the River Meschasipi with extraordinary Swiftness because the Current is very rapid in this place by reason 't is so near the Fall we found some of the Savages of our Band in the Islands of the River where they had set up their Cabins and were well provided with Bulls-Flesh They offer'd us very freely of what they had But about two Hours after our landing we thought we shou'd have been all murder'd Fifteen or sixteen Savages came into the middle of the place where we were with their grea● Clubs in their Hands The first thing they did was to over-set the Cabin of those that had invited us Then they took away all their Victuals and what Bear●s-Oil they could find in their Bladders or elsewhere with which they rubb'd themselves all over from Head to Foot We took 'em at first for Enemies and the Picard was very near sticking the first that came in with his Sword At the first surprize I began to lay hold of the two Pocket-Pistols that du Gay had left me but by good luck I contain'd my self or otherwise without doubt there had been an end of us for their Companions would not have fail'd to have reveng'd upon us the Death of those we had kill'd We knew not what these Savages were at first but it ap●ear'd they were some of those that we had left above at the Fall of St. Anthony One of them who call'd himself my Uncle told me That those who had given us Victuals had done basely to go and forestal the others in the Chace and that according to the Laws and Customs of their Country 't was lawful for them to plunder them since they had been the cause that the Bulls wére all run away before the Nation could get together which was ● great Injury to the Publick For when they are all met they make a great Slaughter amongst the Bulls for they surround them so on every side that 't is impossible for them to escape CHAP. LX. The Hunting of the Tortoise The Author 's Canow is carry'd off by a sudden blast of Wind which was like to have reduc'd him and his Companions to great Streights IN about threescore Leagues rowing we had kill'd but one Wild-Goat which we did as he was crossing the River The Heats were now grown so excessive that our Provisions would be spoil'd in twenty four Hours This put us upon Hunting the Tortoise but 't was with much difficulty that we could take any for being very quick of Hearing they would throw themselves into the Water upon the least noise However we took one at last which was much larger than any we had seen His Shell was thin

didst cover covers thine while alive He has carry'd the Tydings of it to the Country of Souls for these People believe the Transmigration of Souls What thou didst in respect of the Dead is highly to be esteem'd All the Nation applauds and thanks thee for it After this he gently reproach'd the Sieur du Luth that he did not cover the Dead as I had done To which the Sieur desir'd me to answer That he never cover'd the Bodies of any but such Captains as himself To which the Savage answer'd Father Louis for so he heard the Europeans call me is a greater Captain than thou His Robe speaking of my Brocard Chasuble which they had taken from me and was afterwards sent as a Present to our Allies who liv●d three Moons distance from this Country was finer than what thou wearest When these Savages speak of a Journey of three or more Moons they mean Months They march well and will travel fifteen Leagues a Day By which the Reader may judge what an extent of Ground they can go in three Months CHAP. LXV The Author takes his leave of the Savages to return to Canada A Savage is slain by his Chief for advising to kill us Dispute between the Sieur du Luth and me about the Sacrifice of Barbarians TOwards the end of September seeing we had no Tools proper to build a House to dwell in during the Winter amongst these People and considering that we were destitute of Provisions necessary to subsist there as our Design was at first to have done we resolv'd to let them understand that to procure them Iron and other Merchandizes which were useful for them 't was convenient that we shou'd return to Canada and that at a certain time which we shou'd agree upon between us they shou'd come half the way with their Furrs and we the other half with our European Commodities That they might let two of their Warriors go with us whom we wou'd carry into our Country and likewise bring back again the next Year to the Place appointed for meeting from whence they might proceed to acquaint them of our return in order to their meeting us with their Effects Upon this they held a great Council to consider whether they shou'd send some of their Nation with us or no. Two there were who were for it and offer'd themselves to be the Men But they alter'd their Opinion the Day of our Departure alledging for a Reason That we were oblig'd to pass thro' many Nations who were their sworn Enemies and wou'd be sure to seize their Men and take them out of our Hands either to burn them or put them otherwise to Death by exquisite Torments and that without our being able to hinder it being so few in Number as we were I answer'd That all those People whom they were afraid of were our Friends and Allies and that in consideration of us they wou'd forbear to injure any of their Nation that were with us These Barbarians want no Wit on the contrary their Natural Parts are extraordinary They told us in return that since we were to pass through these People who were their sworn Enemies we shou'd do well to destroy them at whose Hands they had receiv'd so many Injuries that then their Men shou'd go and return with us to fetch them Iron and other Commodities which they wanted and wou'd gladly treat with us about From whence we may gather that these Barbarians are full of Resentment and Thoughts of Revenge Dispositions not altogether so well prepar'd to receive the meek Doctrine of the Gospel In fine Ouasicoude their chief Captain having consented to our Return in a full Council gave us some Bushels of Wild-Oats for our Subsistence by the way having first regal'd us in the best manner he cou'd after their fashion We have already observ'd that these Oats are better and more wholsom then Rice After this with a Pencil he mark'd down on a Sheet of Paper ●which I had left the Course that we were to keep for four hundred Leagues together In short this natural Geographer describ'd our Way so exactly that this Chart serv'd us as well as my Compass cou'd have done For by observing it punctually we arriv'd at the Place which we design'd without losing our way in the least All things being ready we dispos'd our selves to depart being eight Europeans of us in all We put our selves into two Canows and took our leaves of our Friends with a Volly of our Men's Fusils which put them into a terrible Fright We fell down the River of St. Francis and then that of the Meschasipi Two of our Men without saying any thing had taken down two Robes of Castor from before the Fall of St. Anthony of Padua where the Barbarians had hung them upon a Tree as a sort of Sacrifice Hereupon arose a Dispute between the Sieur du Luth and my self I commended what they had done saying The Barbarians might judge by it that we disapprov'd their Superstition On the contrary the Sieur du Luth maintain'd That they ought to have let the things alone in that Place where they were for that the Savages wou'd not fail to revenge the Affront which we had put upon them by this Action and that it was to be fear●d lest they shou'd pursue and insult us by the Way I own he had some grounds for what he said and that he argu'd according to the Rules of Humane Prudence But the two Men answer'd him bluntly that the things fitted them and therefore they shou'd not trouble their Heads about the Savages not their Superstitions The Sieur du Luth fell into so violent a Passion at these Words that he had like to have struck the Fellow that spake them but I got between and reconcil'd the Matter For the Picard and Michael Ako began to side with those that had taken away the things in question which might have prov'd of ill consequence I assur'd the Sieur du Luth that the Savages durst not hurt us for that I was persuaded their Grand Captain Ouasicoude wou'd always make our Cause his own and that we might relie on his Word and the great Credit he had amongst those of his Nation Thus the Business was peaceably made up and we descended the River together as good Friends as ever hunting the Wild-Beasts as we went When we were got almost as far as the River Ouisconsin we made a Stop to smoak after the manner of the Country the Flesh of the Bulls which we had kill'd by the Way During our stay here for the Reason aforesaid three Savages of the same Nation which we had lately left came up to us in their Canow to acquaint us that their Grand Captain Ouasicoude having learnt that another Chief of the same Nation had a Design to pursue and murder us he came into the Cabin where the said Captain and his Associates were consulting about it and gave him a Blow on the Head with so much Fury

their Blow they scarce expose themselves at least wise if they do not find they are supported by a good Number of Warriors These Barbarians do not fight in the same manner as the Europeans do for they are not Disciplined as our Men are and therefore they do not so well range themselves in Battalia and by consequence they cannot so firmly sustain the Brunt of a Battle as our disciplin'd and well commanded Souldiers In the mean time when they are once animated and chafed they prove incomparable Assailants They are so malicious as to set the Corn of the Europeans on Fire when 't is Ripe they Burn their Houses and set Fire to them with Tinder or March which they tie to the end of their Arrows for this Fire quickly seizes upon the Boards or Straw which covers the Houses and they are presently Consumed because they shoot their Arrows with an extraordinary force There was an Iroquoise Captain whose Name was Attreouati Onnontage whom I kn●w very well and who shewed me great Civilities in my Journey from Fort Frontenac to New York we were w●nt to call him because of his large Mouth the Grand Gueule or Wide-Mouth now this Man one Day wanting his Blow entred into the Town of Montreal in Canada crying Hai Hai which in their Language is a Sign of Peace he was received with many Caresses of kindness feasted very well and also had many considerable Presents made him out of a desire they had to oblige this Insolent Nation but the perfidious Wretch in his return from thence killed two Men who were Thatching an House there Some of them have told us that they have been making War as far as the Dominions of the Spaniards which are in New Mexico for they have related That they have been where the Inhabitants gathered Red Earth together which they carried to be sold to another Nation who in Exchange gave them Hatchets and Kettles for it and that they called this sort of Earth Gold But this Story was perhaps Invented by the Salvages at will in order to please the Sieur de la Salle when he was at Fort Frontenac for he delighted to hear talk of the Mines of St. Barbe from whence they dug up their Gold I have been amongst all the Nations dwelling upon the River Meschasipi and I never heard any amongst them except the Illinese speak of the Iroquoise but as of a certain People that were Neighbours to the Illinese of whom they had learnt that the Iroquoise were a very Cruel Nation yet no otherwise stout but because they had Fire Arms for which they truck'd with the Europeans and that were it not for them they would never have durst to attack the Illinese who are a more Valiant Nation and more expert in the Use of Bows and Arrows than the Iroquoise ever had been Vnheard of Crueltys of the Iroquois CHAP. XXIII The Cruelty of the Salvages in general and of the Iroquoise in particular THERE are no sorts of Salvages in all North America who are not extream Cruel to their Enemies We stand astonished at the Cruelties exercised by Nero Dioclesian and Maximinus towards the Christians and these very Names we have still in detestation and horrour but the Inhumanity of the Iroquoise in respect to the Nations which are made their Slaves is yet much more horrible and detestable After the Iroquoise have killed a Man they cut off his Scalp and carry it home with them as an assured Mark of their Victory when they have taken any one a Slave they tie him fast and make him run after them but if he be not able to follow them they give him a Blow on the Head with their Ax and there leave him after they have pulled off all the Skin with the Hair of his Head and they are so cruel that they will not spare sucking Infants If the Slave can go along they tye him in the Night-time to a piece of Wood made in the Form of a St. Andrew's Cross and leave him exposed to the terrible stinging of the Maringoins and other Flies of the Country during the Summer Season and treat him in the cruellest manner they can Sometimes they thrust four Sticks into the Earth to which they make fast their Slaves by the Hands and feet and so expose them all Night long on the Earth to the Rigour of the Season be it what it will to say nothing of a Hundred other Miseries these miserabl Creatures are made to endure in the Day time When they approach near unto their Villages they make a loud Hollow by which Signal those of their Nation know their Warriors are returned with their Slaves The Men and the Women at the same time put on their best Attire and come out to the end of the Village to receive them When they are there they make a Lane for the Slaves to pass through but it proves to be a miserable reception for these poor Wretches for the Villains fall upon them as Dogs or Wolves do upon their Prey and cease not to torment them all the time the Warriors pass by in a File fierce and proud with their Exploits And here you might see some of the poor Slaves kicked others beaten with Sticks several cut with Knives and some have their Ears cut others their Noses or Lips in such sort that the greatest part of them dye in this pompous Entry whereas those who have the u●happiness to go through with this Evil Treatment are preserved to greater Punishments yet they are pleased sometimes to spare some of them tho' it be very rarely When their Warriors are entred into their Huts there is an Assemby of the Elders held who come together to hear a Relation of all that has passed in the War and then they dispose of their Slaves If it happen so that the Father of a Salvage Woman has been killed in the War they bestow a Slave upon her in his stead and 't is at this Womans choice to put him to Death or save him alive and here I 'll shew you how they use their Slaves when they are minded to Burn them they tie the Poor Wretch to a Post by the Hands and Feet then they heat Musket Barrels Hatchets and other Iron Instruments and apply them Red Hot to his Body from top to Toe his Nails they tear off with their Teeth cut pieces of Flesh out of their Backs and oftentimes pluck off the Scalp of their Heads with the Hair when this is done they put Red-hot Ashes into the Wounds cut out their Tongues and in a word make them to suffer all the Miseries they can think of If with all these Torments they do not die they force them to run before them and bear the blows of their Battoons and they do relate That there was once a Slave who ran so well that he made his Escape into the Woods and that they could never catch him but 't is very likely he Dyed there for want of

conceal the knowledge of this Villainous outrage And indeed perhaps nothing wou'd have been ever discover'd if the Bands happening to Rot and break the Water had not cast upon the Bank those Two Carcasses mangl'd and almost consum'd The Savages perceiving that they were suspected of the Fact by the Prohibitions that were made to 'em no longer to come near the Fort nor the Houses of the Burghers began to fear least the Canadians one day shou'd be avenged of them for committing this Barbarous Action to prevent the effects of such a storm they made up to the Three Rivers and there held a Council to the number of Eight Hundred Men the Result of which Consultation was that it was requisite to endeavour to surprize and to Massacre all the People who then Liv'd at Quebec the Capital Town of Canada which was as yet very ill sppply'd with Inhabitants But it is very difficult to keep a Secret in a Council held by so many People at once who without doubt were not all of one Opinion Therefore Divine Providence which took care for the preservation of this little growing Colony ordain'd that one of those Savages Nam'd La Foriere whom our Monks had Educated at the Three Rivers during Two Years and who had an inclination to adhere to them gave Notice of the Plot to one of our Monks Nam'd The Pacifick Friar who immediately sent information to the French Whereupon they were oblig'd to make Intrenchments in a small Wooden Fort flanked with Stakes and Pallisadoes without any manner of order In the mean while no Cost was spar'd to gratifie this Savage for his Discovery he was loaded with Presents and a Promise was made him of others more considerable not only to induce him to get knowledge of the Designs that were then on foot against the Canadians by those of his Nation but also to oblige him to endeavour to divert them from their Enterprize This Savage Executed his Commission with very great Success and manag'd the Affairs so Dextrously that he not only caus'd them to Abandon their first Project for the present but even perswaded 'em absolutely to renounce it to be Reconcil'd to the French and to obtain a supply of Provisions which were then extreamly scarce among them To this purpose the Savages sent Forty Canou's with Women to Receive the Goods and the Canadians furnish'd them with as much as the time cou'd permit The French Receiv'd with a great deal of Joy the Proposals of Peace which were made them in full Council by the Savage La Foriere on behalf of the Iroquois whom he had appeas'd in which it was particularly specify'd that the Chief Commanders and Captains of that Nation shou'd deliver up the Two Murderers to the Canadians that they might dispose of them at their Pleasure To which purpose their Elders had Instructions to repair to Quebec in order to Treat of that Affair But the Proposal which La Foriere made to the Savages upon that occasion startl'd 'em at first nevertheless afterward reflecting upon the weakness and good nature of the French who then resided in Canada and relying upon the Engagements of Father Ioseph le Caron as Franciscan of order of the Recollects who had always shewn a great deal of amity towards 'em they perswaded one of the two Persons who was least guilty to go down with 'em to Quebec However the Iroquois order'd their little Army to make a Halt half a League from the Fort of the French to wait for the success of the Nego●iation The Iroquois presented their Criminals befo●e the Canadians with good store of Beaver-gowns which they gave 'em to wipe off their tears according to their custom and indeed they found means to accommodate their Difference with their Presents By which means they usually appease the Wrath of those whom they have incens'd engage their Allies to assist them in maintaining a War conclude a Treaty of Peace Ransom their Captives and even in a manner raise the Dead In a word there were no Speeches nor Answers made but by Presents which pass'd for words in their Harangues The Presents which the Savages make for the Death of an Assassinated Person are numerous but generally they are not offer'd by the Murderer The custom of those People requires that it be done by his Relations the Town where he was Born or even by the whole Nation according to the Quality and Condition of the Person who was kill'd But if the Murderer be met by the Relations of the Deceased Party before he has made Satisfaction he is immediately put to Death Therefore according to this custom before La Foriere the Elders and the Savage Captains had begun to enter upon the Treaty they made a present of Twelve Elk-Skins to appease the Canadians that they might afford a favourable Reception to their Proposals Afterwards they made a second Present and laid it at the feet of the Canadian● saying That it was to cleanse the Bloody place where the Murder was committed protesting at the same time that they had no knowledge of that Affair till after the Fact was perpetrated and that all the chief Commanders of the Nation disprov'd and condemn'd that outragious Attempt The third Present was to strengthen the Arms of the Persons who found those dead Bodies on the Bank of the River and carry'd 'em into the Woods To these they added two Beaver-gowns upon which they were to lie to take rest after the pains they had taken in Burying them The fourth Present was to wash and cleanse those who were defil'd by committing this Murder and to recruit their Spirits which they had lost when they gave that unfortunate Blow The fifth to take away all manner of resentment which the Canadians might have upon that account The sixth to establish an inviolable Peace with the French adding that for the future their Axes shou'd be hung up without striking their Strokes and that they wou'd throw 'em so far that none shou'd be ever able to find 'em again as if one shou'd say that their Nation being now at Peace with the Europeans these Barbarians wou'd no longer keep any Arms but only for Hunting The seventh Present was to testifie the desire they had that the Canadians shou'd have their Ears penetrated that is to say in their Stile that they might be open to the gentle influences of Peace to grant the two Murderers Pardon for the Crime which they had committed Afterward they offer'd a great quantity of Collars or Necklaces of Porcelain to kindle a Council-fire at the three Rivers where the Iroquois then resided and another at Quebec They added in like manner another Present of two Thousand Grains of Black and Blue Porcelain to serve instead of Wood or Fuel for those two Fires Here it may not be amiss by the way that the Savages scarce ever hold an Assembly without the Pipe in their Mouth Fire being therefore necessary to Smoak they almost always cause it

to be kindled in their Councils Thus it is the same thing with them to make a Council-Fire or to appoint a place to visit one another as to call an Assembly as is usually done by the Relations and Friends whenever they are desirous to Treat about their Affairs Lastly the eighth Present was to demand a Union of their Nation with the Canadians and they added a large Collar of Porcelain with Ten Gowns of Beaver and Elk-Skins to confirm the whole Treaty Whatever inclination the Inhabitants of Quebec might have to punish the Assassines for preventing the like Outrages for the future yet they were oblig'd to pardon 'em in regard that they were not in a condition to make Head against such potent Enemies Therefore two Hostages were demanded of them to serve as a security for the performance of all their Engagements Whereupon the Iroquois delivered to Father Ioseph two young Lads of their Nation nam'd Nigamon and Tebachi to be instructed by him Afterward the Criminals were sent back upon Condition nevertheless that at the arrival of the Ships which were expected from Europe this Affair shou'd be finally determin'd I remember that during my abode in Canada I often heard the French murmur against those Proceedings and even declare that they had made it appear how heinously they resented that Action which remain'd unpunish'd Afterward the Iroquois committed many other Outrages of the like nature saying That in so plucking off the Hair of the French they had found means to be quit with them for certain Skins of Wild Beasts instead of those of the Canadians whom they would Flea and that if the People of their Nation wou'd not suffer the like Insults without revenging them all the Iroquois wou'd be destroyed one after another Indeed these Barbarians have grown more insolent ever since and despise the Canadians as a People destitute of Courage Nay notwithstanding the Overtures the Iroquois have seemingly made of Treating with them yet they have done nothing but play'd the Politicians to the end that they might get a greater quantity of the European Merchandizes into their possession than that which they procure in exchange for their Skins We may observe even at this day that the War which the Iroquois actually maintain against the French in Canada is a sufficient proof of the cruelty and continual enmity of those People Therefore the Europeans ought to take away their Fire-Arms in order to reduce 'em to Obedience as also to force 'em to be more peaceable than they are and live after the manner of the Inhabitants of Europe which wou'd be a proper means to Convert 'em to the Christian Religion The Spaniards have effectually taken this course among the Mexicans who dare not keep any Fire-Arms even at this very day under pain of Death yet those People are never the worse treated nay the Mexicans are as good Roman-Catholicks as any in the World and live under the most gentle Yok● of any in the Universe Our first Recollects or Franciscans in the first Colony of Canada soon perceiv'd the necessity there was of frustrating the Counsels of the Iroquois who are the most formidable Enemies of the Europeans They judge that all the Negotiations relating to Peace which those Savages set on foot with their Enemies are Counterfeit and feigned only to conceal the Infractions which they made in former Treaties Therefore the Monks often represented to the King of France that to draw off those Barbarians and to hinder 'em from taking in their Councils any measures which may be prejudicial to the Colony of Canada it was requisite to found a Seminary of fifty or sixty Iroquois Children only for seven or eight Years whic● Term being expir'd they might be maintain'd by the Profits of certain Lands which were cultivated during that time As also that these Children wou'd daily offer themselves to the said Monks with the consent of their Parents to be instructed and brought up in the Christian Religion Lastly that the Iroquois and other Savages seeing their Children Educated and Maintain'd after this manner wou'd not propose any Projects in their Counsels for the forming of Enterprizes against the Colony as long as the said Children were as it were so many Hostages for their Father's Fidelity CHAP. XXXV Proper means for the Establishing of good Colonies The Opinions of the Savages concerning Heaven and Earth FOrasmuch as the Franciscan Monks do not possess any thing by right of Propriety not being capable by vertue of the Rules of their Order either to sell alienate or even to enjoy Revenues it may be justly affirm'd that there is no religious Order more proper than their's for the maintaining of Colonies which are settl'd on behalf of the Roman-Catholicks in America The verity of this Assertion appears from those whom the Emp●r●ur Charles V. sent to New Mexico where there are ●ven at this day a great number of powerful Families that have reap'd great ●dvantage from the moderate and regular Proceedings of our Monks The best Lands have not been there swallow'd up as in Canada where we see ●hat the Wheat and most Fertile places are now un●er the Jurisdiction of certain Commonalties who found means to get possession of them during the absence of the Recollects or Franciscan Friars who nevertheless were the first and most ancient Missionaries of Canada The People of New France having made great Sollicitations to cause us to come back thither after a long forc'd absence our Recollects perceiv'd at their return that an alienation was made of the best Lands of our Settlement belonging to the Convent of Our Lady of Angels where I my self have often renew'd and mar●t out the Bounds that were left us in order to prevent the designs of those who were desirous absolutely to deprive us of what still remain'd in our possession I have no intention here to Censure or to give O●fence to any Man but if some are displeas'd because I have here Publish'd my Great Discoveries they ought at least not to disturb my Tranquility upon that account Indeed I cou'd publickly declare many things which wou'd not be acceptable to a great number of Persons and yet at the same time speak nothing but the Truth I shall not insi●t on the great advantages that arise from the Missions of the Fransciscan Friars into the sour Quarters of the World but a particular enumeration of them wou'd fill up a very large Volume therefore I shall only give some account here of the pains our Monks have taken in the present Age in carrying on the Discoveries we have lately made in America When the French Colony was first settl'd in Canada our Recollects only demanded of the States Twelve Men capable to Cultivate the Lands and to manage a Farm These were to be under the Command of a Master of the Family who ought to be a Lay-Man for the maintenance of Fifty or Sixty Savage Children whilst the Monks were employ'd in Travelling into all Parts to