The Distributed Proofreaders Canada eBook of The Jesuit Relations, by Reuben Gold Thwaites

This eBook is made available at no cost and with very few restrictions. These restrictions apply only if (1) you make a change in the eBook (other than alteration for different display devices), or (2) you are making commercial use of the eBook. If either of these conditions applies, please check with an FP administrator before proceeding.

This work is in the Canadian public domain, but may be under copyright in some countries. If you live outside Canada, check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this file.

This eBook was produced by: David T. Jones & the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

(This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)

THE JESUIT RELATIONS

AND

ALLIED DOCUMENTS

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents

TRAVELS AND EXPLORATIONS
OF THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES
IN NEW FRANCE

1610-1791

THE ORIGINAL FRENCH, LATIN, AND ITALIAN
TEXTS, WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
AND NOTES; ILLUSTRATED BY
PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND FACSIMILES

EDITED BY

REUBEN GOLD THWAITES

Secretary of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin

Vol. LXV

LOWER CANADA, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

1696-1702

CLEVELAND: The Burrows Brothers
Company, PUBLISHERS, MDCCCC

The Imperial Press, Cleveland

EDITORIAL STAFF

CONTENTS OF VOL. LXV

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. LXV

PREFACE TO VOL. LXV

CLXIX. An unsigned document (probably written by Jacques de Lamberville) gives a brief account of "Canadian affairs in 1696." The leading event of the year is Frontenac's expedition into the Iroquois country. The Onondagas retreat before him. A detachment is sent against the Oneidas. The Christian woman who had saved Milet's life comes to meet the French, with proposals for peace and for the removal of herself and her Christian tribesmen to the reduction at Sault St. Louis; but the French troops, without waiting for the conclusion of this arrangement, rush into the village, which causes the terrified inhabitants to take flight. "Their village was burned, and their indian corn cut down, as at onnontagué." Frontenac and Callières wish to punish the Cayugas also; but the militia are anxious to get home to gather in their harvests, and the expedition—"which has Cost the King more than 50 thousand ecus"—returns to the St. Lawrence, after having captured only an old man, almost blind, and a lame old woman. These are given to the Christian Iroquois, among whom they find relatives; the French troops, however, not only insist that this poor old man be put to death, but they themselves [Pg 12] burn him at a slow fire. "He greatly loved us, and had often given food to the Jesuit who now Confessed him and assisted Him at death—encouraging him to suffer bravely, and as a Christian, The torture of fire that they were about to make him endure." Meanwhile, the Mohawks are harrying the French settlements, burning and slaughtering wherever they go.

An extract from a letter by Lamberville describes the condition of affairs at the Sault St. Louis mission. The church therein is prosperous and well organized; but much evil has been wrought among the new Christians by the use of brandy, which is sold to them by the French. The writer describes with enthusiasm the honor paid by devout persons throughout Canada to the tomb of Catherine Tegakwita, and the miraculous cures that are wrought there through her intercession. Among the persons thus benefited are Champigny and Du Luth.

Another letter reports the flourishing state of Gravier's Illinois mission, wherein he counts more than 2,000 baptized persons. The martyrdom of a Christian Iroquois woman, at the hands of her pagan tribesmen, is recounted in detail. At the end of this MS. are written a number of detached and often fragmentary memoranda, relating mainly to business matters—apparently of Montreal habitants, and occasionally of nuns and Jesuits.

CLXX. Crépieul, the Montagnais veteran, describes the "long and slow martyrdom" which constitutes "the Life of a Montagnaix Missionary"—a pathetic record of continual hardship, privation, and danger. The final sentence is truly characteristic: "Suffering and hardship are the appanages of [Pg 13]these holy but arduous missions. God grant that in them may long remain, and die, the useless servant of the missions, François, S. J."

CLXXI. Gravier writes to the late bishop, Laval (September 16, 1697), thanking him for his kind interest in the Western missions, but complaining that Frontenac has driven him and Pinet from their mission at Chicago. He asks Laval to induce St. Vallier to reinstate Pinet in that mission. He also expresses profuse thanks to Laval for the latter's offering to the Illinois mission of silver utensils for the altar—for which Laval has given "almost all his own plate."

Again (September 20, 1698) Gravier writes to Laval to announce the arrival at Mackinac of the priests sent to the Western missions by the Seminary of Quebec. He and his brethren will aid these new missionaries to the best of their ability.

CLXXII. Julien Binneteau, who is stationed in the Illinois mission, writes to a friend (about January, 1699) regarding his difficulties with the Indian medicine-men. They are, however, "polite to the missionaries;" and some of them even resort to the Fathers in illness. The young men are as averse as the medicine-men to the new religion, as it is a check to their licentious lives; but the women are well inclined to the truth, and show great constancy in maintaining their profession. The Father praises certain pious families, who "would be a good example to the best regulated households in France." He eulogizes the abilities and zeal of his colleague, Gabriel Marest, who "is doing wonders." They have three chapels, and are busily occupied in this large village. Binneteau mentions a visit that he [Pg 14]has made to the Tamaroa savages, who live on the banks of the Mississippi. He describes the mild climate of Illinois, and the fruits and the game animals that abound there; also the life led by the savages, their hunting of the buffalo, and their manner of preserving its flesh for food. The women do nearly all the work, while the men live in idleness, which "is the cause of all their debauchery."

CLXXIII. Marest, who is now also among the Illinois, writes to a friend (April 29, 1699) some account of his mission. The number of converts has so increased that a new and larger church has been built. The two Fathers stationed here "have occupation beyond their strength." Marest outlines their labors and responsibilities, which barely leave them time for sleep. The Seminary priests sent to this region visit these Jesuits, who, notwithstanding their poverty, aid them in various ways.

CLXXIV. This is a letter (1699) of Jacques Bigot to a friend, describing the new Abenaki village in Maine where he is now stationed. He is greatly cheered by the fervor and piety of these Christians, various instances of which he recounts. The savages exchange prisoners with the English, and many of the English children piteously beg that they may be allowed to remain with the savages, lest they be perverted from the true faith by returning to their own people. The English attempt, but in vain, to persuade the Abenakis to drive away the French missionaries. Bigot goes to Quebec, to inform the governor of affairs in Acadia; while returning to his mission, he is attacked by a fever, which almost causes his death.

CLXXV. In September, 1700, Jacques Gravier left Chicago for a voyage down the Mississippi, to Iberville's new fort thereon. This journey is described by him in a letter (dated February 16, 1701) to Jacques de Lamberville. Upon reaching Peoria, he finds that the Kaskaskias settled there have resolved to migrate to the shores of the Mississippi—a step which he heartily disapproves, but cannot prevent. The Peoria tribe, also settled there, promise Gravier to remain until his return, and not to change their abode until he and Iberville shall direct them to do so; but he adds, "I am very doubtful whether they will keep their word."

Gravier proceeds with the Kaskaskias—who are accompanied by their faithful pastor, Father Marest—as far as Cahokia, where there is a French trading post. There he embarks with a band of Frenchmen, who are bound for Iberville's fort near the mouth of the Mississippi. Several of the party being attacked by malarial fever, Gravier is able to cure them by a relic and novenas: "a small piece of Father François Regis's hat, which one of our servants gave me, is the most infallible remedy that I know of for curing all kinds of fever." He describes the course of the river; the bluffs, mines, and other features of the region; and the wild animals with which the country abounds. Not far south of the Ohio are seen high banks of sand, in which report has located an iron mine; but Gravier satisfies himself that the sand, although colored like iron, does not contain that metal.

Below the St. Francis River, the Frenchmen meet a band of Arkansas savages, who hospitably entertain them. At the village of that tribe, they hear [Pg 16]of a trader, apparently an Englishman, who had been there the year before. The chief of the savages remembers the visit of Marquette to his town in 1673. When the Father is about to take his leave, the chief urgently requests him to remain a day longer, in order to "sing the calumet" to him; but he declines, knowing that they hope to gain presents from him. Gravier here describes the calumet, and its importance among the savage tribes. At the Tonica River, Gravier halts to visit the Seminary priest Davion, whom he finds ill with fever. He gives various interesting particulars about the tribes of that district, but his efforts to discover their religious rites and superstitions are futile. He finds that the heads of their infants are compressed, in order to flatten them; also that the men till the soil, and do much other work that in Canada is done by the women. Their clothing, dwellings, and furniture are described. "Nothing can be cleaner than their Cabins." They manufacture pottery; some of their jars are "as pretty as any that can be seen in france." They have a small temple, in which fire is kept always burning. During Gravier's visit to Davion, the latter's colleague, St. Cosme, arrives at Tonica; he gives a disheartening account of the Natchez mission, where he is stationed. Among these people human sacrifices are practiced, and they are fire-worshipers. They are ruled not only by a chief, but by his sister, who is called "the sun woman." Gravier returns thither with St. Cosme, and after a short halt resumes his journey; he next visits the Houmas, above the mouth of the Red River. Here he finds the Jesuit Joseph de Limoges, who has just arrived after a disastrous voyage down [Pg 17]the great river, in which the wreck of his canoe causes the loss of all his possessions. The Houmas are brave warriors, but are indolent, amiable, and docile. Their woman chief who died last year was an Amazon, "having in person led several war-parties;" the highest honors were accordingly paid her. These savages have abundance of poultry; but they will not kill or eat a chicken, apparently regarding these creatures as mere curiosities. The customs and dress of these people are described, also the temple in which they keep a perpetual fire.

Our missionary visits the Baiagoulas, who are being punished by famine and disease for an act of treachery committed against an allied tribe. On the lower reaches of the great river, the French find no large game, "and, if we have found a few bustards or wild geese, they have been so lean that they were as tasteless as wood." They are also tormented by the clouds of insects, and depressed by the heavy rains and excessive heat. On December 17, Gravier and his men, after a voyage of sixty-eight days, reach Iberville's fort, of which a picturesque description is given. Provisions are beginning to fail the little garrison left therein; but they patiently await the coming of the ships from France, in March. That entire region is so inundated that it will be necessary to remove the fort to the higher ground farther up-stream. Gravier also visits and describes Biloxi, Iberville's principal post. The Spanish governor of Pensacola visits this fort, and is hospitably received by the French; and they afterward aid him when he is shipwrecked, sending him back to his residence. On his return from Biloxi, Gravier's crew stray from their route, and have much difficulty [Pg 18]in regaining the fort on the Mississippi. He makes various observations on the depth and the rise of the great river, the claims of the English to this region, the search therein for mines, the tribes of savages found there, and the tragic end of La Salle's expedition. Gravier again mentions the terrible plague of mosquitoes in that semi-tropical region. One of his eyes is "so badly stung by them, that I almost lost it."

A postscript to this document, dated in 1702, states that Iberville has abandoned both these forts, and removed his colony to Mobile.

CLXXVI. This is a formal declaration, made by the Jesuit superior at Quebec, of the revenues and estates belonging to the Jesuits in Canada, in October, 1701. Their total income, as here given, amounts to a little more than 13,000 livres a year. This list is followed by a statement of the expenditures which are necessary for their work: the support of forty-eight priests and nine donnés, "almost all of whom are aged and worn out in the missions," besides the wages of fourteen hired servants; the maintenance of the college, residences, and chapels; traveling expenses, and alms to the poor. The order also has to carry a debt of 6,000 livres.

CLXXVII. Étienne de Carheil, who has been long stationed at Mackinac, writes (August 30, 1702) to Governor Callières a long account and vigorous denunciation of the lawless conduct and licentiousness that prevail among both the savages and the French in that region. This wretched state of affairs is due mainly to the traffic in brandy, permission for which "has been obtained from his majesty only by means of a pretext apparently Reasonable, but known to be false." Carheil states that, as this [Pg 19]evil traffic renders useless the labors of the missionaries, they will request their superior to recall them from the Ottawa missions.

The writer arraigns in scathing terms "the two Infamous sorts of Commerce which have brought the missions to the brink of destruction: ... the Commerce in brandy, and the Commerce of the savage women with the French. Both are carried on in an equally public manner, without our being able to remedy the evil, because we are not supported by the Commandants.... All the villages of our savages are now only Taverns, as regards drunkenness; and sodoms, as regards immorality—from which we must withdraw, and which we must abandon to the just Anger and vengeance of God."

Carheil regards the commandants and garrisons as enemies of the missions. "All the pretended service which it is sought to make people believe that they Render to the King is reduced to 4 chief occupations." These are: "Keeping a public Tavern for the sale of brandy," extending this traffic from one post to another, "keeping open house in their dwellings for all the women of their acquaintance," and gambling. As a result, the entire time of the soldiers is spent in drinking, gambling, quarreling, and licentiousness; the savages are scandalized thereby, and the influence of the missionaries upon them is weakened when they see that the latter are powerless to remedy these evils. The above-mentioned occupations are the only ones pursued by the soldiers, who are therefore utterly useless and even pernicious to the country; and without them there would be no commandants—officials who come to Mackinac "solely for trading, without troubling themselves about anything else." They care [Pg 20]nothing for the missionaries, save when they can use the latter for their own selfish purposes; and they arrogate to themselves all authority over both French and savages, which leaves the missionaries without aid. "Before there were any Commandants here, the missionaries were always listened to by the traders," who were afraid of the Fathers. Now, the traders know that their evil acts will be condoned or connived at by the commandants, and they have no fear of the missionaries.

Another grievance of the missionaries is that the commandants secure from the home government allowances for making gifts to the savages. The natural result is, that the latter will now do nothing except in return for presents; and that they learn to employ all sorts of stratagems and intrigues in order to secure these presents, and to cheat the commandants in every possible manner. Carheil hints that the greater part of the fund supplied for this purpose is appropriated by the officials for their own use.

Carheil urges that the garrisons be abolished, as being entirely unnecessary—a statement which he elaborates at length. To them and to their commandants "are due all the misfortunes of our missions." He accordingly urges the governor to inform the king of the present state of affairs, and to ask that no more garrisons be sent to the mission posts. He considers it expedient that the present system of trade be abolished, preferring that the savages should take their peltries down to the French settlements, as in the early days of the fur trade. Carheil also adduces various reasons why this would be for the best interests of the French, who are rendered idle, vagrant, and immoral by the present system. At the same time, "The Iroquois must be completely [Pg 21] tamed and reduced to subjection; and we must take possession of his country, which is much better than That of all the nations up here.... His destruction and the possession of his country would secure for us the Trade of all the savage nations up here."

The governor, having asked Carheil for advice, is informed by the latter that he does not approve the proposal to restore to certain private persons the permissions to engage in the fur trade, which were recently abrogated by the king. The very persons whose conduct has already been so scandalous will be the ones who will secure those permissions; and Carheil can see no adequate method of preventing their drunken and licentious acts. He forcibly depicts the various phases of their present immoral mode of life; and urges the governor to use all his influence to check these scandals. He advises that the Canadian company who have secured the right to the fur trade of the Northwest should establish certain trading posts, to be conducted by competent persons, honest and exemplary in morals. He complains that the governor has not forwarded to the court the complaint formulated by the missionaries at Mackinac against Cadillac. A postscript to Carheil's letter states that the Mackinac savages had favored the establishment of the Detroit post, supposing that it would aid them to destroy the Iroquois nation and take possession of their country; but now, seeing that the French are befriending and aiding the Iroquois, the Ottawas and Hurons will have nothing to do with Cadillac's settlement.

CLXIX, CLXX

DOCUMENTS OF 1696-97

SOURCES: In publishing Doc. CLXIX., we follow a MS. (probably a contemporaneous apograph) in the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. Doc. CLXX. we obtain from a MS. volume in the archiepiscopal archives of Quebec, which is described under Doc. CLVII. in Bibliographical Data to Volume LXIII. of our series.

As in Doc. CXXX. (Volume LVII.), words and phrases crossed out in MS. are in Doc. CLXIX. given in Italics; substitutions or additions, in bracketed Roman.

Les affaires de Canada En 1696

Aux aproches den^re petite armée composée d'habitans
du païs, et des troupes du Roy, et de
500 Sauuages tant Hurons, qu'abenaquis et
Iroquois Ch^ens etamis letoutfesant enuiron 2200 hōes,
[cōmandez parle Comtefrontenac gouuerneur] les
Iroquois d'onnontagué sesont retirez aprez auoir
euxmesme brulé leur bourg qui etoit fortifié et ou
Des goiogȣens et des sonnontȣans auoient résolu dese
battre contre Les francois, mais un sauuage Iroquois
qu'on auoit fait prisonnier S'est il yauoit 3 mois les
ayant auerti que nos troupes etoient de 6000 hōes
etqu'une partie uenoit a onnontagué; une autre a
goiogȣen, et une autre asonnontȣan les derniers et
les goiogȣens quitterent les onnontagues pour aller
disoient ils defendre leurpaïs, c'estcequi obligea les
onnontagués qui ne se croyoient seuls capables de
resister aux francois dabandonner leur fort, pour
se refugier a 25 lieües dela vers lemidy, ou ils
auoient construit un autre bourg, etouils auoient des
champs debled dinde. ils ytransporterent leurs
meilleurs effets et abandonnerent ainsi leurs compagnes
du I^er. fort, chargés debled dinde a ladiscretion
des francois.

Delàsans les y aller trouver en a [leur] nouueau
poste, ni les pour suiure a cause qui l yauoit trop loin,
et que les souliers des soldats etoient usés outre qu'on
etoit pressé de reuenir en Canada poury faire les

Canadian affairs In 1696.

On the approach of our little army, consisting
of settlers of the country, of the King's
troops, and of 500 Savages,—not only Hurons,
but abenaquis and Iroquois Christians and
friends,—making in all about 2,200 men, [commanded
by Count frontenac, the governor,] the
Iroquois of onnontagué retreated, after they themselves
had burned their fortified village, in which
Some goiogwens and sonnontwans had resolved to
fight The french. But, on being informed by an
Iroquois savage who had been taken prisoner, 3
months before, that our troops numbered 6,000 men,
and that a part of them were going to onnontagué,
another to goiogwen, and another to sonnontwan,
these last people and the goiogwens left the onnontagues,
to go, as they said, to defend their own
country. This compelled the onnontagués, who did
not consider themselves alone strong enough to resist
the french, to abandon their fort and retreat 25
leagues to the south, where they had built another
village, and where they had fields of indian corn.
They conveyed thither their most valuable effects,
and thus abandoned their fields at the 1st fort, which
were full of indian corn, to the mercy of the french.

Then, without going to seek them in their new
post and without pursuing them, since it was at too
great a distance, and because the soldiers' shoes were
worn out,—and, moreover, all were anxious to return
to Canada for the harvest,—a detachment was formed

recoltes on alla [fit] un detacheme^t. de 700 hōes ycompris
300 Sauuages, pour aller a Onneiȣt eloigné de
12 ou 15 lieües d'onnontagué on yfut en un jour. la
fameuse X^enne. d'onneiout qui [a] fait donner lavie
aup. millet alla auec quelq. onneiȣts audeuant des
françois et Leur proposa Lapaix, et de venir auec 80
onneiȣts qui etoient dans lebourg demeurer a [prez
de] montreal auec les Iroquois X^tens. on y consentit:
mais tandisque cette X^enne. alloit auertir ses gens
de venir trouver m^r. deVaudreüil qui cōmandoit
ledetachem^t. nos gens lasuiuirent [sans attendre
reponse] et entrerent tumultuairem^t. dans onneiȣt,
ce qui fit fuir les onneiȣts on brula leur village et on
coupa leurs bleds dinde cōe a onnontagué 30 de ces
onneiȣts vinrent ensuite se rendre aux Iroquois X^ens.
etaux françois. [Af] voila tout le mal qu'on a fait aux
Iroquois en cette expedition qui a Couté plus de 50
mil ecus au Roy. on prit seulem^t. un vieillard de 80
ans presqu'aueugle, ausi [et] une vieille boiteuse
aux enuirons d'onnontague ou ils s'etoient cachés
celle cy l'un et l'autre furent donnez aux Iroquois
X^ens. qui les auoient amenez au Camp, ils se trouuerent
parens on donna la vie a la boiteuse et [coe]
l'ondeliberoit ce qu'on feroit duvieillard que les
francois vouloient faire mourir, les Iroquois X^ens.
demanderent qu'on l'assōmast ouqu'on le tuast
a coups de Couteau plutost quedelebruler, mais les
françois voulurent absolum^t. quil fust brulé a petit
feu, ce quils executerent eux mesme auec bien
delain [ala vüe deses parens] qui etoient den^re parti.
je l'auois batisé lorsque jetois a onnontagué lejour
des^t. Thomas dont je [on] lui auoit donné lenom. il

consisting of 700 men, including 300 Savages, to go
to Onneiout, distant 12 or 15 leagues from onnontagué.
They went thither in one day. The famous
Christian woman of onneiout who saved father
millet's life [1] went with some onneiouts to meet the
french, and proposed peace to Them; she also offered
to come, with 80 onneiouts who were in the village,
to reside at [near] montreal with the Christian Iroquois.
This was agreed to; but, while the Christian
woman was warning her people to come to monsieur
de Vaudreuil, who commanded the detachment, our
people [without waiting for an answer,] followed her,
and tumultuously entered onneiout. This caused the
onneiouts to flee. Their village was burned and their
indian corn cut down, as at onnontagué. Of these
onneiouts 30 afterward came in, and surrendered
to the Christian Iroquois and to the french. [Ae] This is
all the injury that was done to the Iroquois on this
expedition, which has Cost the King more than 50
thousand ecus. The french captured only an old
man 80 years of age, who was almost blind, also [and]
a lame old woman, in the neighborhood of onnontague,
where they were hidden. The latter Both
were given to the Christian Iroquois who had brought
them to the Camp. These proved to be relatives,
and granted the lame woman her life. And [While]
they were discussing what should be done with the
old man, whom the french wished to put to death,
the Christian Iroquois asked that he be killed with a
club or be Stabbed to death, instead of being burned.
But the french peremptorily demanded that he be
burned at a slow fire—which they themselves did
with many—[in sight of his relatives,] who belonged
to our party. I had baptized him when I was at
onnontagué, on the feast-day of st. Thomas, whose

nous aimoit beaucoup, et auoit donné bien desfois a
manger au jesuite qui le Confessa et L'assista alamort
l'encourageant a souffrir courageusem^t. et X^ennémt.
Les tourmens dufeu qu'on lui alloit faire endurer il
pria dieu assez long temps aprez quoy on Cōmenca de
lebruler. cequi etant venu a la connoiss^ce. du Gouuerneur,
il eut pitie deluy et apres dune heure de tourment
[luy eust fait donner Lavie sil] n'eust pas esté
deja tout brulé. cequi fit quelqu'un des assistans
touché de compassion lui casser lateste cependant les
Iroquois d'agnié ou inferieurs nous ont tüé oupris
prisonniers entre les 3 riuieres etlelacS^t. pierre sur
la riue de fleuue 20 ou 30 personnes, et ont brulé
leurs maisons etleurs granges et tué leurs bestiaux.
Les onnontaguez tuerent a l'arriére garde de n^re
armée un Irroquois ch^en et 2 abenaquis qui s'etoient
écartés et [blank space in MS.] francois se sont
noyés endescendant Les rapides du fleuue.

Quatre denos peres apeine suffisent ils acette
mission ouils sont bien employez. C'est une
Eglise toutefaiteformée, ou L'on fait tout cōe dans
les Eglises paroissiales et plus. car tous les jours
les neophytes assistent alamesse; onyfait les prieres
du matin et dusoir, on y chante alamesse; on y Confere
lebatesme et lesautres sacrem^ts. auec les ceremonies
del'Eglise. on garde les dimanches etlesfestes,
et tout y est bien reglé. depuis quelquetemps
le voisinage desfrancois nuit notablem^t. acette
Eglise naissante, a cause del'eau devie qu'ils vendent

name I had [been] given to him. He greatly loved
us and had often given food to the jesuit who now
Confessed him and assisted Him at his death,—encouraging
him to suffer bravely, and as a Christian,
The torture of fire that they were about to
make him endure. He prayed to God for a considerable
time after which they Began to burn him. When
this came to the Governor's knowledge, he had pity on
him, [and would have granted him His life] after an
hour's torture, had he not already been burned all
over. On account of his condition, one among those
who were present, touched with compassion, broke
his head. Meanwhile, the Iroquois of agnié, or
lower Iroquois, have killed or captured from us 20
or 30 persons, between 3 rivers and lake St. pierre,
on the banks of the river; and have burned their
houses and barns, and slaughtered their cattle. The
onnontaguez killed in the rear-guard of our army a
christian Irroquois and 2 abenaquis, who had strayed
from the ranks; and [blank space in MS.] french were
drowned while descending The rapids of the river. [2]

Four of our fathers barely suffice for this mission,
where they are busily employed. This is a
fully organized Church, in which everything is done
as in the parish Churches—and even more, for the
neophytes assist at mass every day; the morning and
evening prayers are said; there is chanting at mass;
baptism and the other sacraments are Administered
with the rites of the Church; sundays and festivals
are observed; and order prevails in everything. For
some time, the neighborhood of the french has
caused manifest injury to this nascent Church, on

aux catechumenes et aux nouueaux X^ens. pour vn
méchant Lucre on desole cette nouvelle vigne du
seig^r.

depuis vn an on y abatisé q̄tité d'adultes depuis
vn an qui etoient venus dupaïs de nos enemis serendre
volontairem^t. icyauec leurs parens. Quelques uns pris
en guerre par ces Iroquois Ch^ens et amenes cest [qui
les ont amene] icy leur ont procuré lebonheur de
deuenir enfants del'Eglise et amis desfrancois a qui
ils ont donné de veritables preuues delasincerité de
leur foy.

Dieu continüe d'honorer une bonne fille Iroquoise
denation decedée et enterrée en cette mission, Le
Ciel accorde quantité de graces à ceux qui implorent
son assistance. Les Ecclesiastiques et les laïques y
viennent en pelerinage remercier Dieu des faueurs
quils ont recües par son Intercession on y enuoye des
presens a cette Eglise pour marquer a Dieu sareconnoiss^ce.
on enuoyedes presens a l'Eglise ou repose
son Corps. Les paroisses entieres y viennent en
procession Solemnellem^t. aujour annuel desondecez
pour rendre graces des diuers effets desaprotection.
Pour guerir Les maladies[es] queles remedes ord^res.
ne soulagent point on auale dans del'eau ou dans du
bouillon une peu de la poussière desontombeau. M^r.
De Champigny Intendant en Canada auoit perdulavoix
pendant vn an aubout duquel madame l'Intendante
ayant fait dire vne neuuaine il recouura tres parfaitem^t.
lavoix. il afait faire plus^rs. petits tableaux de cette
bonne fille Sauuage quil distribüe et qu'on garde par
estime qu'on ade La s^té de cette vierge Iroquoise qui a
conserué son Innocence parmi tous les libertinages de

account of the brandy that they sell to the catechumens
and to the new Christians. For the sake of vile
Lucre, this new vineyard of the lord is desolated.

During the past year, we have baptized here a
great many adults who have voluntarily come from
the country of our enemies to live here with their
kindred. Some were taken in war by these Christian
Iroquois, and brought [who brought them] hither,
and procured for them the happiness of becoming
children of the Church and friends of the french, to
whom they have given true evidence of the sincerity
of their faith.

God continues to honor a pious maiden, an Iroquois
by birth, who died and was buried in this mission.
Heaven grants a great many favors to those who
implore her assistance. Both Ecclesiastics and lay-men
come hither on pilgrimage, to thank God for
the favors which they have received through her
Intercession. Presents are sent to this Church. In
token of their gratitude to God, presents are sent to
the Church wherein her Body lies. Entire parishes
come to it in Solemn procession on the anniversary
of her death, to give thanks for the various results of
her protection. To cure The diseases that [sick
whom] ordinary medicines cannot relieve, they swallow
in water or in broth a little dust from her tomb.
Monsieur De Champigny, the Intendant in Canada,
had lost his voice for a year; at the end of that time,
madame the Intendante had a novena made, and he
completely recovered his voice. He has caused
many small pictures of this pious Savage maiden to
be made, which he distributes. These are kept
through esteem for The holiness of the Iroquois
virgin who preserved her Innocence in the very
midst of all the riotousness of Impurity. During

L'Impureté. Pendant 3 ans qu'elle a esté en cette
mission, elle Sy afait desigrands progrez enlavertu
quelle amerité que Dieu la glorifiast parquantité
deguerisons miraculeuses obtenües de Dieu parson
moyen. M^r. Du Luth cap^ne. dans lamarine raporte lui
mesme que depuis plus^rs. années étant fort tourmenté
delagoutte, et mescail trouuant point desoulagem^t. a
son mal, il fit dire vne neuf^ne. en l'honneur deste
[cette] bonne X^enne. et quil qui dont les prieres l'ont
entierem^t. gueri desa goute le 9^e. Jour.

Lemesme pere Jaq. de Lamberuille écrit ason frere
ences termes. LeP. Gravier qui depuis [apassé]
6 ans chez les Illinois est venu a Kebec pourles
affaires desamission, il dit quil est raui de laferueur
de cette Eglise naissante il ou il compte plus de 2000
personnes qu'il y a batisées [et] qui viuent dans
lasimplicité etdans lapieté des 1^ers. X^ens. I'l m'en
entretenoit tout penetré de Dieu et raui des grands
succez que Dieu auoit donné ases travaux, et son
regret est den'auoir point de miss^res. qui lesecourent
pour etendre le Royaume de Jesvs X^st. dans les
nations circonuoisines, et qui parlent la mesme
langue, [et] qui prient qu'on les vienne Instruire.

Le mesme père continüe salettre ainsi Vous serez
bien aise d'aprendre aussi cequi est arriue aune
Chretienne Iroq^se. den^re mission dusaut nommée
marguerite, qui aesté prise etbrulée parles aupaïs des
Iroquois ou elle este ēmenée auec son petit enfant

the 3 years that she spent in this mission, she made
so great progress in virtue that she deserved that
God should glorify her by many miraculous cures
obtained from Him through her instrumentality.
Monsieur Du Luth, a captain in the navy, himself
relates that, after suffering greatly from gout and
for many years, and finding no relief for his disease,
he had a novena made in honor of the [this] good
Christian, and that he whose prayers obtained, on the
9th Day, the complete cure of his gout.

The same father Jaques de Lamberville writes to
his brother in these terms: "Father Gravier,
who during [has spent] 6 years among the Illinois,
has come to Kebec on business connected with his
mission. He says that he is delighted with the
fervor of that infant Church, he wherein he counts
over 2,000 persons whom he has baptized, [and] who
live in the simplicity and piety of the 1st Christians.
While speaking of this to me, he was wholly penetrated
with the thought of God, and was delighted
with the great success that God had granted to his
labors; and his chief regret is that he has no missionaries
to help him in extending the Kingdom of
Jesus Christ among the surrounding nations, who
speak the same language, [and] beg us to go to
Instruct them."

The same father continues his letter as follows:
"You will also be pleased to hear what
happened to a Christian Iroquois of our mission at the
saut, named marguerite, who was captured and

d'un an. Dabord on ladepouilla [on lui coupa] plus^rs.
doigts et on lui fit des incisions partout leCorps sans
jamais seplaindre. celui qui etoit present acespectacle
raconte qu'ayant esté ensuite toute couuerte
desang conduite en une [a la] Cabane ou Lon deuoit
exercer sur son corps denouueaux tourments, elle y
trouua une femme francoise capt a qui les Iroquois
auoient donné Lavie, qui s'etantetant aprochée de cette
captiue L'exhorta desouffrir patiemment les maux
qu'on luy fesoit endurer, et deles offrir a Dieu: elle
repondit qu'elle auoit depuis longtemps demandé a
Dieu d'estre maltraittée en cette vie pour expier ses
pechez, et pour estre plus semblable a J. C. Un
francois captif suruint qui lui donna un peu d'etoffe
pour se couurir, et L'encouragea dans La conjoncture
present definir ses jours en veritable X^enne. et depenser
souuent au Ciel tandis qu'on la bruleroit apetit
feu.

aussitost quelle fut aupoteau ou l'on l'alloit attacher
elle semit a genoux, et pria dieu tout haut pour
[elle et pour] ses Ennemis, et pendant [puis s'etant
leuée ellefut Attachée aupoteau ou pendant] qu'on
lui appliquoit les fers ardants, elle ne cessoitpoint
deprier et d'inuoquer le Ciel. tantost s'adressant a
Dieu, t^ost alas^te. vierge, et tantost exhortant ses compatriotes
Iroquois d'embrasser lafoy. apres quelle
fut brulée partout le Corps, on [et qu'on] lui [eut]
enleua [toute] lapeau delateste, et [on] la delia;
aulieu de courir ça etla pour [coe] il arriue aux captifs
qu'onbrule elle s'agenoüilla encor aupied desonpoteau,
outandis quelle continuoit sapriere, ses
bourreaux [quelques uns des assistants] lui donnerent
plus^rs. coups deleuier [et de pierre] surlateste pour

burned by the in the Iroquois country, to which she
was carried with her little child, a year old. In the
first place, they deprived her of [cut off] several of
her fingers and slashed her all over the Body, while
she uttered not a groan. He who was present at
the spectacle relates that, when she was afterward
taken, all covered with blood, into a [to the] Cabin
where fresh tortures were to be inflicted on her
body, she found there a french woman, a captive,
whose life the Iroquois had spared; and who
approached the captive, and exhorted Her to bear
patiently the sufferings that she was made to endure,
and to offer them to God. She replied that she had
long ago asked God that she might be ill-treated in
this life, in order to expiate her sins and to more
resemble Jesus Christ. A captive frenchman came,
and gave her a small piece of cloth wherewith to
cover herself; and he encouraged Her in This
emergency to end her days as a true Christian,
and to think often of Heaven while she was being
burned at a slow fire.

"As soon as she reached the stake to which she was
to be tied, she knelt, and prayed aloud to God for
[herself and for] her Enemies; and while [then, on
rising, she was Tied to the stake,—where, during
the time while] they applied heated irons to her
body, she ceased not to pray and to invoke Heaven.
At times, she addressed herself to God, at others to
the blessed virgin; and, at others still, she exhorted
her Iroquois countrymen to embrace the faith. After
her whole Body had been burned, [and] her [entire]
scalp was [had been] removed, and she was untied.
Instead of running hither and thither, for [as] captives
who are burned generally do so, she knelt once

luy faire finir [oter lavie], mais en vain; cequi fit dire
aux spectateurs que par derision qu'on nepouuoit faire
mourir les X^ens. et quils etoient tout [des] esprits.
l'vn d'eux setant auancé auec vne bayonnette l'en
frappe [aubas delestomak] disant je la ferai bien
mourir, mais etlui et les assistans furent bien
surpris quelle se rompit de [la] voir [ouiln'yapointdos]
que rompüesans s'enavoir pû blesser. cette pauure
victime recōmença tout denouueau ses prieres [se]
recommander en cet etat a Dieu en dont elle Imploroit
lamisericorde et lepardon deses pechez auec des
paroles qui attendrirent les [quelques uns des] assistans.
on lui dechargea ensuite quantite de coups
degros bâtons surla teste mais inut pour l'acheuer
mais inutilem^t. cequi leur fit amasser quantité debois
dontils la couurirent entierem^t. et luy firent finir [en
fin] son martyre parlefeu. Trois jours aprez lamort
dela mere son petit enfant fut abandonné par celle a
qui [on] l'auoit donné pensant quelle l'adopteroit
pour son fils mais ladifficulté quelle vit bien quellauroit
deleleuer acause quil etoit encor alamamelle [auoit
besoin d'vne nourrice], elle [la fit resoudre de] le fit
[faire] porter dauprez d'vn feu pour y estre brulé.
personne n'eut assez debarbarie pour lebruler. mais
voyant quil appelloit incessāment samere lui tendant
les bras cōe sil l'eust vüe et quil leust apellée pourlevenir
querir, on lui cassa lateste surl'heure. les
Chr^ens que nos miss^res. auoient autre fois instruits
enla Religion X^enne. dont dans ce païs ennemy dirent
que cette bonne fe. X^enne. qui auoit esté brulée, auoit
obtenude Dieu lamort desonfils qui [dont lame]
s'envola auec samere dans le Ciel, depeurquesil eust

more at the foot of the stake—where, while she
continued her prayers, her torturers [some of those
who were present] struck her on the head several
times with bars [and stones], to make an end of [kill]
her; but in vain. This made the spectators say that,
in derision, that Christians could not be killed, and
that they were only spirits. One of them came forward
with a bayonet, and struck her with it [in the
lower part of the stomach], saying: 'I will soon kill
her.' But both he and the spectators were greatly
surprised that it broke on seeing that, [it] [in a place
where there were no bones] it was broken, without
power to inflict a wound. The poor victim once
more began her prayers to commend [herself] in that
condition to God, whose mercy and forgiveness she
Implored for her sins, in words that excited the compassion
of [some of] the spectators. They afterward
struck her many blows on the head with heavy clubs
to despatch her; but in vain. This led them to collect
a quantity of wood, with which they completely covered
her; and they [finally] brought her martyrdom
to an end by fire. Three days after the death of
the mother, her little child was abandoned by the
woman to whom he had been given with the idea
that she would adopt him for her son. But the difficulty
that, she saw, she would have in rearing him,
because he was still at the breast [required a nurse],
she [made her resolve to] have him put carry him near
a fire, that he might be burned therein. No one was
barbarous enough to burn him; but, as he continually
cried for his mother, holding out his arms as if
he saw her and were calling her to come to get
him, they broke his head on the spot. The Christians
whom our missionaries had formerly instructed

[Memoranda attached to the document:]

1697

varia
Hatitsihenstatsi
m^r. Peiré associé auec m^r. Birré.
Leur nauire de 24 canons cōmand parlesieur Lagrange leurs offres.
Davaugour
Procurãon. pour La succession de m^r. Sorel
2. M^r. Hazeur
3. garontog eun

monenda. P. Chollet
les 600ll de garontog M^r. hazeur
ditq. 36 n'auoit pas bien compris
&c. haoienk.

1697.

nullus juuat rem familiarē in Gallia, Kebeci imo &c.
ōes petunt nemo juuat vt habeatur

cesont les hati isi htsi qui ont voulu queladiminūon
delarente des VV necōmençast qu'en 1696

nepense a Kebec qua se tirer et seretranchent pour
euiter les detes etleur ruine enfin cōe les filles
dus^t. sacrem^t. les VV. me prient denepoint emprunter
d'argent pour elles. elles prennent leur
provisions surlepuis ni u[i]n ni vinaigre ni

M^r. Hazeur 1697

Il ecrit que c'est vn mal entendu que Je n'ai pas
compris dans ses compts (il se trompe lui mesme) il
m'en ecrit et m'endonne la Clef. Lep. Bruyas et

in the Christian Religion, of which in that country
of our enemies, said that the good Christian
woman who had been burned had obtained from
God the death of her son, who [whose soul] soared
with his mother['s] to Heaven—lest, had he lived
longer, he might have become wicked among the
Infidels."

[Memoranda attached to the document:]

1697.

Varia:
Hatitsihenstatsi.
Monsieur Peiré associated with monsieur Birré.
Their ship of 24 guns commanded by sieur Lagrange; their offers.
Davaugour.
Procuration for monsieur Sorel's succession.
2. Monsieur Hazeur.
3. garontog eun.

1697.

Monenda: Father Chollet; the 600 livres of
garontog; Monsieur hazeur
says that 36 had not well
understood etc. haoienk.

Nullus juvat rem familiarem in Gallia, Kebeci imo etc.
omnes petunt nemo juvat ut habeatur.

It is the hati isi htsi who desired that the diminution
of the rent of the Ursulines should commence
only in 1696.

The Ursulines manage their affairs better. They
do not anticipate on the following year.

At Kebec they think only of saving themselves and retrenching
to avoid debts and their ruin. Finally, like
the Nuns of st. sacrement, the Ursulines beg me not
to borrow money for them. They take their provisions
from the well—neither wine, nor vinegar, nor

Raffeix me mandent que Je satisfasse M^r. grignon et
hazeur empruntant delargent du P. bigot et cequil
luy doit reuenir p^r. La mission dusaut

Cest chez m^lle. Girardin demeurant chez M^r. Poquelin
rüe du gros chenet que l'on payera les 300 ll.
pour lefils dem^r. Hazeur Jésuite

MONSIEUR HAZEUR 1697.

He writes that it is a misunderstanding, which I
have not included in his accounts (he is himself mistaken).
He writes and gives me the Key to them.
Fathers Bruyas and Raffeix write me to pay Monsieur
grignon and hazeur, by borrowing money
from Father bigot, and what ought to come to him
from The Saut mission.

It is at mademoiselle Girardin's, who resides at
Monsieur Poquelin's, rüe du gros chenet, that the
300 livres will be paid for the son of Monsieur
Hazeur, a Jesuit. [4]

La Vie d'vn Missionaire Montagnaix presentée aux Successeurs Montagnaix pour Leur instruction et pour leur plus grande consolation

par Le p. François De crepieul Jésuite et Seruiteur inutil des
Missions du canada depuis 1671 iusqu'a 1697—qui acheue
le 26 hiuernement dans L'Emplois de La Mission
de Tadoussak, et le 4^e á La Mission de s^t
Xauier á chegȣtimÿ 21 Auril 1697—

Est vne vie vraÿment pœnitente, et Humiliante
sur tout dans Les cabanes, et dans Les chemins auec
Les Sauuages—

La cabane est composée de perches, et decorces
de Bouleau, et entourée de Branches de Sapins qui
couurent la Neige, et La Terre gelée—

Le Missionaire préque tout le jour est assis, ou á
genoux exposé á vne fumée quasi continüelle pendant
L Hÿuer.

Quelque fois il süe de jour, et le plus souuent il á
froid pendant La Nuit—il couche vestu sur La Terre
gelée, et quelquefois sur la Neige couuertes de
quelques Branches de Sapins assés rudes—

il mange dans vn ȣragan plat assés rarement net
ou laué, et le plus souuent essuie auec vne peau
grasse, ou Leché par Les chiens—il mange quand il
ÿ a de quoÿ manger, et quand on luÿ en present—

The Life of a Montagnaix Missionary, presented to his Successors in the Montagnaix mission for Their instruction and greater consolation.

By father François De crepieul, Jesuit, and an unprofitable
Servant of the Missions of canada from 1671 to 1697,—which
completes the 26th wintering in The Service of The
Tadoussak Mission, and the 4th at The Mission of
st. Xavier,—at chegoutimÿ, April 21, 1697.

Is a truly penitential and Humiliating life, especially
in The cabins, and on journeys with The
Savages.

The cabin is made of poles and Birch-bark; and
Fir-Branches are placed around it to cover the Snow
and The frozen Ground.

During nearly all the day, The Missionary remains
in a sitting or kneeling position, exposed to an
almost continual smoke during The Winter.

Sometimes he perspires in the day-time and most
frequently is cold during The Night. He sleeps in
his clothes upon The frozen Ground, and sometimes
on the Snow covered with Fir-Branches, which are
very hard.

He eats from an ouragan (dish) that is very seldom
clean or washed, and in most cases is wiped with a
greasy piece of skin, or is Licked by The dogs. He

Quelquefois La viande n'est que demÿ cuitte; Quelquefois
elle est fort dur, sur tout La Boucanée:
sechée á la fumée pour lordinaire on ne fait q vne
fois chaudiere; et au temps d'abondance deux fois,
mais il ne dure guer—

Les Souliers sauuages, et la peau des chiens luÿ
seruent de seruiettes; comme font les cheueux aux
Sauuages, et aux Sauuagesses—

La Boisson ordinaire est L eau de Ruisseau, et de
quelq9 chares quelque fois de la neige fondüe, ou du
Buillon pur, ou auec de la neige dans vn ȣragan
d'ordinair assés gras—

Souuent il brule ses habits, ou sa couuerte, ou ses
Bas pendant La Nuit, sur tout quand La cabanne est
petite, ou estroitte—il ne peut s'estendre, mais il
se retressit; et il á la Teste contre la Neige couuerte
de Sapins, qui refroidit bien le cerueau, et luÿ cause
des maux de dents etc—

il couche tousiours vétu; et il ne demet sa Sotanne
et ses Bas que pour se deffendre de La vermine,
dont Les sauuages sont tousiours riches, sur tout
Les Enfans—

Le plus souuent á son reüeil il se trouue entour
de chiens—ie me suis trouué quelquefois parmy
6-8 et 10—

La Fumée est quelquefois si violente qu'elle le fait
pleurer, et quand il se couche il semble qu'on ait
ietté du sel dans Les ÿeux; et á son Reueil il á bien
de la peine á les ouurir—

A La Fonte des Neiges quand il marche sur des
Lacqs, ou de longues Riuieres, il est tellement
esblouÿ pendant 4 á 5 jours par l'eau continüelle
qui luÿ tombe des ÿeux, qu'il ne peut lire son

eats when there is anything to eat, and when some
is offered to him. Sometimes The meat is only half
cooked; Sometimes it is very tough, especially when
Smoked (dried in the smoke). As a rule, they have
a good meal only once—or, when provisions are
abundant, twice; but it does not last long.

The savage Shoes, or the dogs' hairy skins, serve
him as napkins, as the hair of the Savage men and
women serves them.

His usual Beverage is water from the Streams or
from some pond—sometimes melted snow, or Broth,
pure or mixed with snow, in an ouragan that is
usually quite greasy.

He often scorches his clothes, or his blanket, or
his Stockings during The Night—especially when
The cabin is small or narrow. He cannot stretch
himself, but he curls himself up, and his Head rests
upon the Snow covered with Fir-branches; this chills
his brain, and gives him toothache, etc.

He always sleeps with his clothes on, and takes
off his Cassock and his Stockings only to protect
himself against vermin, which always swarm on The
savages, especially The Children.

Usually when he awakes he finds himself surrounded
by dogs. I have sometimes had 6, 8, or 10
around me.

The Smoke is sometimes so strong that it makes
his eyes weep; and when he sleeps he feels as if
some one had thrown salt into His eyes; when he
Awakes, he has much difficulty in opening them.

When the Snow Thaws, while he is walking upon
Lakes or long Rivers, he is so dazzled for 4 or 5 days
by the water that drops continually from his eyes
that he cannot read his Breviary. Sometimes he

Breuiaire—quelquefois il faut le mener par La
Main—cela est arriué au p. Siluÿ, au p. Dalmas, et á
moÿ qui en chemin ne voiois que le bout de mes
Raquettes.

il est souuent importuné des petits Enfans, de
leurs crÿs, de leurs pleurs etc. et quelquefois il est
incommodé de la püanteur de ceux, et de celles qui
ont les Ecroüelles, auec qui mesme, il Boit d'vne
mesme chaudiere—J'aÿ passé plus de 8 jours dans La
cabane de Kaȣitaskaȣat Mÿstassin le plus considerable,
et couché auprés de son Fils incommodé, dont
la püanteur ma souuent fait soüleuer le cœur de
jour, et de Nuit—i aÿ beü, et mangé aussy dans son
ȣragan—

il est quelquefois reduit á ne boire que de L'eau
de neige fondüe qui sent la fumée, et elle est assés
salle—L espace de 3 Sepmaines ie n'en aÿ pas bü
d'autre estant auec des Estrangers dans Les Terres
de peokȣagamÿ—Je n'aÿ pas vü de Sauuages plus
sals á manger, á boire, et á coucher que ceux Lá
souuent la viande estoit pleine de poils d'orignal ou
de Sable—Vne vielle prenoit á pleine main auec les
ongles tres longs la graisse dans La chaudiere ÿ aÿant
ietté de la Neige; et puis elle nous la presentoit á
manger dans vn ȣragan tres sal: et chacun beuuoit
du Bouillon de La mesme chaudiere—

pendant lesté dans les Voiages, sur tout dans Le
Saguenaÿ, et sur le grand Fleuue il boit assés souuent
de L'eau bien sallee qu'on trouue dans quelqƺ
Mares—depuis 3 jours que le vent nous arrete, nous
n'en beuuons pas dautre—quelquefois Le vent
l'oblige á se sauuer dans des Lieux, ou on n'en trouue
pas du tout—cela m'est arriué plus d'vne et 3 fois—

has to be led by The Hand. This has happened to
father Silvÿ, to father Dalmas, and to myself; while
on the march I could not see farther than the edge
of my Snowshoes.

He is often annoyed by little Children, by their
cries, their weeping, etc.; and sometimes he is made
ill by the stench of those who have Scrofula, with
whom he even Drinks out of the same kettle. I
have spent more than 8 days in The cabin of Kawitaskawat,
the chief man among the Mÿstassins, and
have slept near his Son, who was troubled with that
disease; and the stench from him often caused me
nausea, both day and Night. I have also eaten and
drunk from his ouragan.

He is sometimes reduced to drinking only water
obtained from melted snow, which smells of smoke
and is very dirty. For 3 Weeks I have drunk nothing
else, while I was with Strangers in The Region
of peokwagamÿ. I have never seen Savages dirtier
than these, as regards eating, drinking, and sleeping.
Among them the meat was often covered with
moose-hairs or Sand. An old woman, with her long
nails, gathered up handfuls of grease in The kettle
into which Snow had been thrown, and then offered
it to us to eat, in a very dirty ouragan; and all drank
Broth out of The same kettle.

In the summer-time, while Traveling, especially
on The Saguenaÿ and on the great River, he often
drinks The very dirty water obtained from Ponds.
During 3 days, while detained by contrary winds,
we drank no other water. Sometimes The wind
compels him to take refuge in Places where there is
none at all. This has happened to me more than
once—indeed, more than 3 times. I have even been

j'aÿ mesme souuent esté obligé de boire dans des
Mares, on ie Voiois des crapaux etc.

Le plus souuent pendant l'hÿuer dans les chemins
quoÿ que longs, et difficils, il ne trouue point vne
goutte deau pour se rafrechir quoÿ qu'epuisé de
süeurs, et de fatigues—

il endure beaucoup de froid, et de fumée, auant
que La cabanne soit acheuée, pendant 2 á 3 heures
que le Temps est tres rude l'hÿuer. La chemise qui
à esté trempée de süeurs, et ses bas mouillés le
rendent comme Morfondu auec La Faim qu'il souffre,
le plus souuent n'aÿant mangé q vn morceau de
viande seche, auant qu'on decabanne—

La souffrance, et La Misere sont les appanages de
ces stes. et penibles Missions—faxit Deus vt iis
diu immoretur, et immoriatur Seruus Inutilis Missionum
Franciscus S.J.—

[The following memorandum occurs in the original
MS., near the beginning of this section: "1690 20
jull. á KaNeskat ex casâ J-B. ȣsti'ȣanich Dnis Tadussacensis
á mÿ chemin de TadoussaK et de La Riuiere
de L Assomption aux papinachois."]

Reduced facsimile, except that the lettering has been improved for legibility, of original manuscript missionary map, probably made about 1695, and preserved in archives of St. Mary's College, Montreal.

In most cases during winter, while on long and
difficult journeys, he does not find a drop of water
wherewith to quench his thirst, although exhausted
with toils and fatigues.

He suffers greatly from cold and from smoke,
before The cabin is finished, for 2 or 3 hours when
the Weather is very severe in winter. His shirt,
which is wet with perspiration, and his soaked stockings,
render him Benumbed with cold; he suffers
also from Hunger, because in most cases he has had
nothing but a piece of dried meat, eaten before
camp was struck.

Suffering and Hardship are the appanages of these
holy but arduous Missions. Faxit Deus ut iis diu
immoretur et immoriatur Servus Inutilis Missionum
Franciscus, S.J. [God grant that in them may long
remain and die the Useless Servant of the Missions,
François, S.J.]

[The following memorandum occurs in the original
MS., near the beginning of this section: "1690,
july 20, at KaNeskat, from the house of J. B.
Ousti'wanich, the Tadoussac Chief, midway between
Tadoussak and The River de L'Assomption, among
the papinachois."]

CLXXI—CLXXIV

Documents of 1698-99

SOURCES: The first letter (September 17, 1697) in Doc. CLIX. we have from the original MS. in Laval University, Quebec; the second (September 20, 1698), we take from L'Abeille, vol. 7, no. 13. Docs. CLXXII.-CLXXIV. we take from Shea's Cramoisy series, no. 20.

Deux lettres du P. Jacques Gravier à Monseigneur de Laval.

Je supplie Vostre Grandeur de me pardonner
la liberté que ie prends, de luy demander
encore sa benediction qui m'attirera celle de Dieu
pour arriuer heureusement á ma chere Mission: apres
vn si long exil: rien ne me la plus adouci, Monseig^r.
que la bonté que Vostre Grandeur a eüe de vouloir
bien me témoigner dans les visites que i'ay pris la
liberté de luy rendre, qu'Elle y prenoit part. Si
Monseigneur de Quebec à pour nous les mesmes
Sentimens, comme Nous l'esperons tous, Nous ferons
nos fonctions dans nos Missions Outaoaises plus
paisiblement que Nous n'auons fait depuis quelques
années, Et nous serons á couuert des menaces que
nous fait Mons^r. le Comte de Frontenac, de nous
chasser de nos Missions comme il á desia fait, de celle
de l'Ange gardien des Miamis, à Chicagȣa, dont Monseigneur
de Quebec m'a confié le soin par ses patentes,
en me confiant le soin des Missions des Ilinois, des
Miamis et des Scious, et confirmant le pouuoir que
Vostre Grandeur auoit donné au P. Marquette, et au
P. d'alloüés qui sont les premiers Missionnaires de
ces nations du Sud. Si Monsieur le Comte de Frontenac
á appris que dans nos Missions nous ayons fait
quelque chose indigne de Nostre Ministere, il á bien
pû s'addresser á Monseigneur L'Euesque ou a son

Two letters by Father Jacques Gravier to Monseigneur de Laval.

I beg Your Grace to pardon the liberty
that I take in asking once more for your
blessing, which will call down upon me that of
God, to enable me to reach my beloved Mission in
safety after so long an exile. Nothing has more
comforted me, Monseigneur, than the kind manner
in which Your Grace was pleased to manifest to me,
during the visits that I took the liberty of paying
you, that You felt an interest in that mission. If
Monseigneur of Quebec [5] has the same Sentiments
for us, as We all hope, We shall perform our duties
in our Outaoais Missions more peacefully than We
have done for some years. We shall also be safe
from the threats of Monsieur the Count de Frontenac
to drive us from our Missions, as he has already
done from that of l'Ange gardien of the Miamis, at
Chicagwa,—the charge of which Monseigneur of
Quebec had confided to me, by his patents giving me
the care of the Missions to the Ilinois, Miamis, and
Scious, and confirming the powers that Your Grace
had conferred upon Father Marquette and Father
d'alloués, who were the first Missionaries to those
Southern nations. [6] If Monsieur the Count de Frontenac
had learned that in our Missions we had done
anything unworthy of Our Ministry, he could easily
have applied to Monseigneur The Bishop or to his

grand Vicaire; Mais il n'a pû que par violence nous
chasser de Nostre Mission de ChiKagȣa, et nous esperons
que Monseigneur de Quebec ne souffrira pas
vne telle violence si prejudiciable a son authorité; et
que si vostre Grandeur veut bien luÿ en parler, il
rétablira et confirmera le P. Pinet dans sa Mission
pour y continüer ses fonctions qu'il á si heureusement
commancé.

Au reste, ie ne dois pas attendre que le beau
ciboire dont vostre Grandeur fait present a la Mission
des Ilinois, soit fait, pour l'en remercier au Nom
de ces pauures sauuages; C'est vostre Mission, Monseigneur,
puisqu'elle est sous la protection de L'Immaculée
Conception de Nostre Dame, que Vostre
Grandeur á choisi pour le jour de son sacre, et qu'elle
á prise pour la Patrone de tout son diocese; Et le
Pere Marquette ne pouuoit rien faire de plus
conforme á L'intention de Vostre Grandeur, que de
mettre la Mission des Ilinois sous la protection
de L'Immaculée Conception de Nostre Dame; Et
quoyque vous ayéz toujours esté le pere de toutes
nos Missions, celle cy, Monseigneur, vous doit estre
attachée tout particulierement, et parceque c'est la
Mission de L Immaculée Conception de la Vierge,
et par le beau present que vous luy faites. Ne
doit'on pas croire que le Ciboire que Vostre Grandeur
luy donne, est d'vn grand prix, puisqu'il faut
fondre toute sa vaisselle d'argent pour le faire?
Aussy nous sera t'il infiniment precieux, et nous ne
pourrons rien auoir dans nos Missions, que Nous
estimons d auantage. Vne escuelle qui vous auoit
seruj si long tems, Monseigneur, Car c'est lá toute

grand Vicar. But he could not otherwise than by
violence drive us from Our Mission of Chikagwa, and
we hope that Monseigneur of Quebec will not suffer
such violence, which is so prejudicial to his authority.
And if your Grace will be good enough to
speak to him of it, he will reinstate and confirm
Father Pinet in his Mission, that he may there
continue his duties, which he has so auspiciously
begun.

Moreover, I must not wait until the fine ciborium
presented by your Grace to the Ilinois Mission is
made, to thank you for it in the Name of these poor
savages. It is your Mission, Monseigneur, since it
is under the protection of The Immaculate Conception
of Our Lady, whose feast Your Grace chose for
the day of your consecration, and whom you have
taken as the Patroness of your entire diocese; And
Father Marquette could do nothing more conformable
to Your Grace's intentions than to place the
Ilinois Mission under the protection of The Immaculate
Conception of Our Lady. And, although you
have ever been the father of all our Missions, this
one, Monseigneur, must be especially dear to you—both
because it is the Mission of The Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin, and because of the handsome
present that you give it. Must we not think
that the Ciborium given to it by Your Grace is of
great value, since you are causing all your silverware
to be melted to have it made? It will, therefore, be
infinitely precious to us, and there can be nothing
in our Missions that We shall more highly prize. A
bowl that has so long served you, Monseigneur,—For
that, with a small cup, comprises all your

vostre vaisselle d'argent auec vne petite tasse, ne
deuoit estre appliquée qu'aux Saints Autels, et l'on
ne deuoit pas la destiner á d'autres vsages sans la
profaner; Et á proportion que le nombre des communians
augmentera dans cette Mission, le nombre
de ceux qui prieront Dieu pour Vostre Grandeur
d'auoir logé le Sauueur du Monde dans vn si beau
Ciboire, augmentera aussy; Et puisqu'Elle a bien
voulu me promettre vn Soleil pour exposer le Sainct
Sacrement a la Veneration de ces pauures sauuages,
Nous Vous serons redeuables, Monseig^r. de tous les
actes d'adoration que Jesus Christ receura au bout du
Monde parmj les Ilinois. Quelque attache que i'aye
pour ma Mission, J'aduoüe que ie ferois encore
volontiers le Voyage des Outaȣacs a quebec pour
assister a la Messe de la Cinquantiesme Année de
Vostre Sacre, Monseigneur, comme i'ay eû le bonheur
d'assister á celle de vostre prestrise; Et ie ne
puis rien dire a tous nos Peres des Outaȣacs de plus
consolant, dans les persecutions que Nous souffrons,
que de les asseurer que Vostre Grandeur se porte
bien, qu'Elle nous continüe toujours ses bontéz, que
Nous viuons auec tous les Messieurs de Vostre Seminaire
dans vne parfaite vnion, et que vous Nous
regardéz toujours, Monseigneur, comme vos Enfans.

Je suis dans vn profond respect,
de Vostre grandeur,—
Monseigneur,
Le tres humble, et tres obeissant
seruiteur et fils, en N. S.
Jac. Grauier, S.J.

A Ville-Marie
le 17^e. Septembre 1697.

silverware,—could be used only on the Holy Altars,
and could not be assigned to any other use without
profaning it. Moreover, in proportion as the number
of communicants increases in that Mission, the number
of those who will pray to God in behalf of Your
Grace, for having lodged the Savior of the World in
so fine a Ciborium, will also increase. And since
You have been pleased to promise me a Monstrance
for exposing the Blessed Sacrament to the Veneration
of these poor savages. We shall be indebted to
You, Monseigneur, for all the acts of adoration that
Jesus Christ shall receive among the Ilinois at this
extremity of the World. However attached I may
be to my Mission, I confess that I would willingly
perform once more the Journey from the country of
the Outawacs to quebec, to be present at the Mass
said for the Fiftieth Anniversary of Your Consecration,
Monseigneur, as I had the happiness of assisting
at that for the same anniversary of your priesthood.
And I can say nothing more consoling to all our
Fathers who are with the Outawacs, amid the
persecutions that We endure, than to assure them
that Your Grace is in good health; that You continue
as kind as ever; that We live in perfect accord with
all the Gentlemen of Your Seminary; and that you,
Monseigneur, always look upon Us as your Children.

I remain with profound respect,
Monseigneur,
Your Grace's
Very humble and very obedient
servant and son in Our Lord,
Jacques Gravier, S.J.

At Ville-Marie,
the 17th of September, 1697.

La recommandation de vostre grandeur nous
est un commandement que j'ay reçu avec un profond
respect; et que nous avons taché d'executer le mieux
qui nous a esté possible, nous avons reçu une joye
sincere et cordiale ces fervens missionnaires de vostre
seminaire des missions etrangeres de Quebec avec qui
nous avons le bonheur d'avoir une si etroite union,
et si nous estions capables d'avoir la moindre peine
de voir des etrangers dans la mission des Akansea,
ou le pere Marquette semble n'avoir paru le premier
que pour en ouvrir l'entrée a ses freres nous ne pouvons
avoir que de la joye que ceux de vostre seminaire
Monseigneur que nous regardons comme nos
veritables freres et qui nous font part du merite de
toutes leurs bonnes œuvres veüillent s'employer à
la conversion des pauvres Akansea et des autres
nations qui n'ont pas encor la connaissance du vray
Dieu.

Je vous avoue Monseigneur, que nous sommes
charmes le pere de Careil et moy de la sagesse, du
zele et de la modestie que Monsieur de Montigny,
Monsieur St. Cosme et Monsieur Davion nous ont
fait paraitre dans les conférences que nous avons eües
ensembles durant sept jours qu'ils ont esté icy; nous
avons agi et nous nous sommes toujours parlé avec
la même ouverture et la même franchise que si nous
avions toujours vescu ensemble: et nous supplions

J. M. J.
From the mission of St.
Ignace at Michilimakinak,
this 20th of september, 1698.

Your grace's recommendation is for us a command,
which I have received with profound respect,
and which we have endeavored to execute to the
best of our ability. We have welcomed with sincere
and cordial joy those zealous missionaries of your
seminary for foreign missions at Quebec, with whom
we are happy to be so closely united. And, if we
could feel the slightest regret at seeing strangers in
the Akansea mission,—where father Marquette seems
to have gone first, in order to open the entrance to
it for his brethren,—we can but rejoice that they of
your seminary, Monseigneur, whom we look upon
as true brethren and who allow us to share in the
merits of their good works, should be pleased to
labor for the conversion of the poor Akansea, and of
the other nations who have not yet any knowledge
of the true God.

I acknowledge, Monseigneur, that father de Careil
and myself are charmed with the good judgment,
the zeal, and the modesty that Monsieur de Montigny,
Monsieur St. Cosme, and Monsieur Davion have
displayed in the conferences that we have had
together during the seven days that they spent here.
We acted and we always spoke together with the
same openness and the same frankness as if we had
always lived together; and we beg your grace to
believe that we omit nothing that may confirm it.

Je leur ay temoigné qu'il n'estoit pas apropos qu'il
parut que ce fut Monsieur de Tonty qui les introduise
aux Akansea, car ils passeraient pour ses
envoyez et qu'il faut que Mr. de Montigny leur parle
luy-mesme par son interprete, il ne m'a donné le
temps de faire un petit discours Ilinois pour entrée
le pere Binteau qui sait aussi bien que moy les
manieres des sauvages le fera mieux que moy: il se
fera un plaisir aussi bien que le père Pinet à
Chicagȣa de leur rendre toutes sortes de services.

Au reste si Mr. de Montigny marque a vostre grandeur
comme il m'en a menacé, que nous luy avons
donné pour son voyage sept sacs de blé d'inde et fait
rasserer deux haches je la supplie humblement de
n'en rien temoigner au pere superieur puisque
nostre maison n'a debourse rien de nouveau et de
vouloir bien nous épargner Monseigneur le chagrin
que nous aurions d'apprendre qu'on veut mettre en
ligne de comte comme avec des Etrangers un peu de
blé d'inde que nous avons partagé avec nos freres.
Si le sac de vieux blé vaut à l'heure qu'il est plus de
25 ll le nostre ne nous revenoit pas a 15 ll et le nouveau
tel qu'il est ne nous manquera pas sans comter
que nostre frere Jacques a vendu 50 ll un canot que
Monsieur de Montigny nous avait laissé.

Je prends la liberté de faire ce detail a vostre grandeur
pour la supplier de ne nous pas priver de la
joye et de la consolation que nous esperons toujours
avoir de recevoir dans toutes nos missions Messieurs
les missionnaires du Seminaire de Quebec et ceux
qui y ont quelque raport et d'y agir avec la même

known that it was Monsieur de Tonty who introduced
them to the Akansea, for they would pass as
his envoys; and that Monsieur de Montigny himself
must speak to them, through his interpreter. He
did not give me time to compose a short speech in
Ilinois, as an introduction. Father Binteau, who
knows the customs of the savages as well as I do,
will do it better than I can. He, as well as father
Pinet at Chicagwa, will do themselves the pleasure
of rendering them every kind of service. [7]

Moreover, should Monsieur de Montigny tell your
grace, as he has threatened me with doing, that we
have given him for his journey seven sacks of indian
corn, and have retempered two hatchets for him, I
humbly beg you to say nothing about it to the father
superior, for our house has incurred no new expense;
and to be pleased, Monseigneur, to spare us the
chagrin that we would feel on learning that an
attempt is made to take into account, as with Strangers,
a little indian corn that we have shared with our
brethren. If a sack of old corn be worth at the
present time more than 25 livres, ours did not cost us
more than 15 livres; and the new corn, such as it is,
will not fail us,—to say nothing of the fact that our
brother Jacques has sold for 50 livres a canoe that
Monsieur de Montigny had left with us.

I take the liberty of mentioning these details to
your grace, to beg you not to deprive us of the joy
and consolation that we always hope to have, of
receiving in all our missions Messieurs the missionaries
of the Seminary of Quebec, and those who are
in any way connected with it, that they may act
therein with the same freedom as in their own

franchise que dans leurs maisons. Je vous demande
humblement Monseigneur vostre Ste. benediction et
je suis avec un profond respect Monseigneur le tres
humble et tres obeissant serviteur

houses. I humbly beg, Monseigneur, your Holy
blessing; and I remain, Monseigneur, with profound
respect, your very humble and very obedient
servant,

Lettre du P. Julien Binneteau, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie.

Dieu continue d'estre icy servy, malgré les
oppositions du démon, qui suscite des gens tout à
fait ennemis du Christianisme: nous les nommons
icy Jongleurs. Ils font en public cent mommeries
pleines d'impieté et ils parlent à des peaux de bêtes,
à des oiseaux morts, comme à des divinités; ils
pretendent que les herbes médicinales sont des dieux
de qui ils tiennent la vie, et qu'il n'en faut point
adorer d'autres; ils chantent tous les jours des
chansons en l'honneur de leurs petits manitous,
comme ils les appellent: ils s'emportent contre
nostre religion et contre les missionnaires. Où est le
Dieu, disent ils, dont nous parlent ces robes noires?
Que nous donne-t-il, pour les aller entendre? Où
sont les festins qu'ils nous font? car mon révérend
Père, c'est par les festins que le parti du démon se
soutient icy.

Quoique ces sortes de gens là paroissent fort éloignés
d'embrasser le christianisme, plusieurs d'entre eux
ne laissent pas cependant de respecter ou de craindre
nos mystères et de faire bon visage aux missionnaires:
il y en a mesme peu dont les enfants ne viennent à
la chapelle; plusieurs les y envoient et quelque motif

Letter of Father Julien Binneteau, of the Society of Jesus, to a Father of the same Society.

God continues to be served here, in spite of
the opposition of the devil, who raises up people bitterly
hostile to Christianity. We call them Jugglers
here. In public they perform a hundred mummeries
full of impiety; and talk to the skins of animals,
and to dead birds, as divinities. They claim that
medicinal herbs are gods, from whom they have life,
and that no others must be worshiped. Every day
they sing songs in honor of their little manitous, as
they call them. They inveigh against our religion
and against the missionaries. "Where is the God,"
they say, "of whom the black gowns tell us? What
does he give us to induce us to hear them? Where
are the feasts they give us?" For, my reverend
Father, it is by means of feasts that the demon's
party is maintained here.

Although people of this kind seem very averse to
embracing christianity, many of them nevertheless
respect or fear our mysteries, and are polite to the
missionaries. Indeed, there are few whose children
do not come to the chapel. Many send them thither;
and, whatever may be the parents' motive, there is
reason to hope that these young plants will one day
bear fruit, and that the party of evil will insensibly

qui fasse agir les parents, il y a espérance que les
jeunes plantes porteront un jour leurs fruits, et que
le méchant parti tombera insensiblement. Ce qui
vous surprendra, c'est que plusieurs de ces jongleurs,
quand ils tombent malades, ont volontiers recours au
missionaire, et il y en a peu qui ne l'écoutent et qui
n'avouent qu'il n'y a qu'un Grand Esprit, ouvrier
de toutes choses, et qu'il faut seul adorer. Depuis
peu, un des plus considerables s'est fait instruire,
après avoir longtemps résisté; estant ensuite tombé
malade et se sentant proche de la mort, il n'a point
eu de repos qu'il n'ait enfin reçu le saint baptême en
exhortant tous ses enfans à embrasser nostre religion.

Les jeunes gens ne mettent point moins d'opposition
au progrès du christianisme que les jongleurs.
Ce sont, parmi eux, des monstres d'impureté, qui
s'abandonnent sans honte aux actions les plus infâmes;
ce qui fait que nous ne voyons presque aucun
jeune homme sur qui on puisse compter pour les
exercises de la religion; il n'y a que les hommes
entre deux ages ou les vieillards qui ayent de la
constance.

En récompense les femmes et les filles ont de
grandes dispositions pour la vertu, quoique suivant
leurs coustumes, elles soient esclaves de leurs frères
pour espouser ceux qu'ils jugent à propos, mesmes
les hommes déjà mariés à une autre femme. Il s'en
trouve néanmoins plusieurs parmi elles qui resistent
alors constamment et qui aiment mieux s'exposer
aux mauvais traitements qu'on leur peut faire, que
de rien commetre, en cette occasion, contre ce que
prescrit le Christianisme pour le mariage.

disappear. You will be surprised to learn that several
of these jugglers, when they fall ill, willingly
have recourse to the missionary; and there are but
few who do not listen to him, and who do not admit
that there is a Great Spirit, the maker of all things,
who alone must be adored. Recently one of the
chief men asked to be instructed, after having long
resisted. Afterward, when he fell ill, and was near
his end, he had no rest until he at last received holy
baptism, while exhorting all his children to embrace
our religion.

The young men are no less opposed to the progress
of Christianity than are the jugglers. Among
them are monsters of impurity, who abandon themselves
without shame to the most infamous actions;
this is the reason why we find hardly a single young
man upon whom we can rely for the exercises of
religion. The middle-aged men and the old men
alone have any constancy.

As a compensation, the women and girls have
strong inclinations to virtue—although, according
to their customs, they are the slaves of their brothers,
who compel them to marry whomsoever they
choose, even men already married to another wife.
Nevertheless, there are some among them who constantly
resist, and who prefer to expose themselves
to ill treatment rather than do anything contrary to
the precepts of Christianity regarding marriage.

There are many households where husband and
wife live in great fervor, without heeding what the
jugglers or the young libertines may say. They are
always the first at church; they punctually attend
the public prayers, and courageously support our
side. Some of them assemble in the cabin of one

vivent dans une grande ferveur, sans se soucier de
ce que les jongleurs et les jeunes libertins peuvent
dire: ils sont toujours les premiers à l'églie, assidus
aux prières publiques, et soutiennent courageusement
le parti. Quelques uns s'assemblent chez un
des plus considérables du village, et là tout l'entretien
est de matière de piéte, du catéchisme, des prières
qu'ils se sont reciter les uns aux autres, ou enfin sur
les cantiques spirituels. Comme les enfants sont
persecutés pour la prière, je connois de bons chrestiens
qui les exhortent à se retirer chez eux, s'offrant
à les nourrir et leur faisant part de ce qu'ils ont,
comme s'ils étoient leurs propres enfants.

Il y a aussi des femmes mariées à de nos françois
qui seroient d'un bon exemple dans les maisons de
France les mieux réglées; quelques unes de celles
qui sont mariées aux sauvages ont un soin extraordinaire
d'entretenir la pieté dans les familles; elles
instruisent elles mêmes leurs enfants; elles exhortent
leurs maris à la vertu, leur demandent le soir s'ils
ont fait leurs prières, les portent à frequenter les
sacrements, et pour elles, elles se confessent au moins
tous les huit jours et communient souvent.

Aprés vous avoir parlé de la mission, je vous diray
quelque chose, mon Révérend Père, des missionaires.
Le P. Gabriel Marest y fait des prodiges; il a les
plus beaux talents du monde pour ces missions; il a
appris la langue en quatre ou cinq mois jusqu'à en
faire maintenant des leçons à ceux qui sont icy depuis
longtemps, il est d'une fatigue incroyable, et son
zèle lui fait regarder comme rien, tout ce qu'il y a de
plus difficile. Je n'aurai jamais de repos, dit il, tant
que je vivrai; je ne croirai jamais en avoir assez fait.

of the notable men of the village, and there the
whole conversation is about matters of piety, the
catechism, the prayers which they recite to one
another, or, finally, the hymns. As the children
are persecuted on account of prayer, I know good
christians who urge them to go to their homes, and
who offer to feed them and to share what they have
with them, as if they were their own children.

There are also women married to some of our
frenchmen, who would be a good example to the
best regulated households in France. Some of those
who are married to savages manifest extraordinary
care in maintaining piety in their families; they
themselves teach their children; they exhort their
husbands to be virtuous; they ask them at night
whether they have said their prayers; they urge
them to approach the sacraments frequently; and,
for their own part, they confess at least every week,
and often receive communion.

After having told you about the mission, I shall
say a few words, my Reverend Father, about the
missionaries. Father Gabriel Marest is doing
wonders; he has the finest talent in the world for
these missions; he has learned the language in four
or five months, so that he can now give lessons to those
who have been here a long time; he can endure an
incredible amount of fatigue, and his zeal leads him
to look upon the most difficult things as trifles.
"I will never rest," he says, "as long as I live. I
will never believe that I have done enough."

We have three chapels, and we teach the catechism
at four places. Kikabous as well as Ilinois are lodged
around us, in order to cultivate corn in the neighborhood
of our chief village. They have a share in

Nous avons trois chapelles et nous faisons le catéchisme
en quatre endroits. Des Kikabous, pareillement
Ilinois, se sont logés auprès de nous pour faire
du bled dans le voisinage de nostre premier village;
ils ont part à la parole de Dieu ainsy nous ne
manquons pas d'occupation icy tous deux. Nostre
maison ne désemplit pas, depuis le matin jusqu'au
soir, de gens que viennent se faire instruire et se
confesser: il a fallu faire nos chapelles plus grandes
qu'elles n'estoient. Le cher Père Marest se livre un
peu trop à son zèle: il travaille excessivement le jour,
et veille la nuit pour se perfectionner dans la langue;
il voudroit en cinq ou six mois savoir tout le dictionnaire.
Dieu nous conserve un si brave missionaire;
il ne vit que d'un peu de bled cuit, où il mèle
quelquefois un peu de petites fèves, et il mange un
melon d'eau qui lui sert de boisson. Il y a un autre
missionaire à soixante lieues d'icy qui vient nous
voir tous les hivers, il est de la Province de Guyenne
et se nomme le P. Pinet, si vous le connoissiez, je
vous en dirois davantage de lui. Il a eu le bonheur
d'envoyer au ciel l'âme du fameux chef Pé'ouris et
de plusieurs jongleurs, et a attiré à nos chapelles,
diverses personnes qui sont l'exemple du village par
leur ferveur: il me reste à vous parler de ce qui me
regarde.

Ie suis presentement à hiverner avec une partie de
nos sauvages dispersés. J'ai esté depuis peu aux
Tamarois, en voir une partie sur le bord d'un des
grands fleuves du monde, que nous appelons pour
cela le Missisipi ou la grande rivière; on en a
découvert plus de sept cent lieues où elle est navigable,
sans en avoir encore trouvé la source. Ie dois

God's word; Thus we both have no lack of occupation.
From morning until night, our house is never
empty of people who come to be instructed and to
confess. We have had to make our chapels larger
than they were. Dear Father Marest is somewhat
too zealous; he works excessively during the day,
and he sits up at night to improve himself in the
language; he would like to learn the whole vocabulary
in five or six months. May God preserve so
worthy a missionary to us. He lives only on a little
boiled corn, with which he sometimes mixes a few
small beans; and he eats a watermelon, which supplies
his beverage. There is another missionary
sixty leagues from here, who comes to see us every
winter. He comes from the Province of Guyenne,
and his name is Father Pinet. If you knew him I
would tell you more about him. He has had the
happiness of sending to heaven the soul of the
famous chief Pé'ouris, and those of several jugglers;
and he has attracted to our chapels various persons
who, through their fervor, are patterns to the village.
I have now to speak to you solely of what concerns
myself.

I am at present spending the winter with a portion
of our savages who are scattered about. I have
recently been with the Tamarois, to visit a band of
them on the bank of one of the largest rivers in the
world—which, for this reason, we call the Missisipi
or "the great river." More than seven hundred
leagues of it have been found to be navigable, without
discovering its source. I am to return to the Ilinois of Tamaroa in the spring. There is a very great difference between this climate and that of Québec,—where the cold lasts a long time, and a

retourner chez les Ilinois de Tamaroa le printemps;
il y a une fort grande différence de ce climat icy à
celui de Québec, où le froid est long et les neiges
fort hautes, au lieu qu'icy d'ordinaire le neige ne
dure que fort peu. A peine tout ce mois cy de
Janvier avons nous senti le froid; la vigne se voit
attachée aux arbres de tous costés et montant
jusqu'au haut, le raisin en est sauvage et n'approche
pas de la bonté de celuy de France. Il y a une
infinité de noyers et de pruniers de différentes
espèces; on y voit encore quelques petites pommes.
Il se trouve icy deux autres sortes d'arbres fruictiers
que l'on ne connoit point en France, ce sont des
Assimines et des Piakimines: le fruit en est bon: de
tous nos autres beaux fruits de France nous nous en
passons en ce païs-cy. Le gibier y est en quantité;
les canards, outardes, oies, cignes, grues, poulets
d'Inde; le bœuf, l'ours et le chevreuil sont les grosses
viandes que l'on mange au païs de chasse. Le bœuf
en ce païs est d'un brun tirant sur le noir; c'est ce
qu'on appelle le bufle en Europe; il a une grosse
bosse vers le chignon du cou, le poil fort épais,
comme celuy des moutons en France, et nous fait
de bonnes couvertures de lit. On voit encore
plusieurs autres animaux, comme chats sauvages,
loups cerviers, rats de bois; la femelle de ceux cy
porte ses petits dans une espece de bourse qu'elle a
sous le ventre.

Voicy quelle est la vie de nos sauvages; ils partent
sur la fin de septembre pour chasser. Tout le
monde marche, ou se rend en pirogue au lieu de
l'hivernement. De là, les plus lestes hommes,
femmes, filles, vont dans les terres chercher le bœuf;

great quantity of snow falls; whereas here, as a rule,
the snow remains but a very short time. We have
hardly felt the cold during the whole of this month
of January. Vines climb all around the trees, up to
their tops; the grapes are wild, and are not nearly
as good as those of France. There are an infinite
number of nut- and plum-trees of various kinds; also
some small apples. We find here two other kinds
of fruit-trees that are not known in France; they are
Assimines and Piakimines. [8] Their fruit is good.
We in this country go without all our other delicious
fruits of France. Game is plentiful, such as ducks,
geese, bustards, swans, cranes, Turkeys. Ox,
bear, and deer furnish the substantial meats that
we eat in the game country. The ox of these regions
is of a blackish brown, and is the animal called
"buffalo" in Europe; it has a large hump on the
nape of the neck, and very thick hair, like the wool
of our sheep in France; this makes good bed-coverings.
We also see other animals, such as wildcats,
lynxes, and tree-rats; the female of the latter carries
her young in a sort of pouch under her belly. [9]

The life led by our savages is as follows. They
start on their hunt about the end of september. All
walk, or proceed in pirogues, to the wintering-place.
From there the most active men, women, and girls
go into the interior, to seek the ox; this animal is
dangerous, and boldly rushes at him who attacks it,
especially when wounded; it snorts furiously, and
its glaring eyes are terrible. When the savages
have killed one, they remove the flesh, especially
that from the ribs, and divide it in halves. This
meat is afterward spread for some time on a wooden
grating, three or four feet high, under which a bright

cet animal est dangereux, courant resolument sur
celuy qui l'attaque, surtout quand il est blessé; il
soufle d'une manière furieuse, et jette des œillades
terribles. Quand les sauvages l'ont tué ils enlèvent
particulièrement la viande de dessus les côtes, la
partagent en deux moitiés; cette viande est ensuite
exposée pendant quelque temps sur un gril de bois
de trois ou quatre pieds de haut, sous lequel on fait
un feu clair, puis on la plie; ainsy dessechée, elle se
garde fort longtemps sans se corrompre. On appelle
ces sortes de pieces des plats-côtés dont il se fait
grand débit au village, quand on est de retour.
Cette chasse finit vers le temps de Noël; les sauvages
en reviennent chargés de ces plats-côtés, et il est
surprenant combien les hommes et les femmes
portent pesant dans la marche. Le reste du temps
jusqu'au mois de mars se passe dans l'hivernement,
où les femmes pressent sans cesse; les hommes vont
de fois et d'autres chasser le chevreuil ou des ours,
sinon ils jouent, dansent, chantent, partisque fruuntur.
Ce sont tous gentilshommes, vivant, sans autre
mestier, que celuy de la chasse, de la pesche et de la
guerre.

La vie que les sauvages mènent au village est à
peu pres de même que celle de l'hivernement; les
femmes seules y labourent et sèment la terre; ce
qu'elles font avec grand soin; aussi pour l'ordinaire
les bleds sont-ils fort beaux et en abondance. La
fainéantise où vous voyez que vivent les hommes, est
la source de toutes leurs débauches, et de l'aversion
qu'ils ont pour la religion chrestienne. Le bal se
tient icy comme en France, tandis que dans une
cabane des danseurs suivent la cadence d'une espèce

fire is kept up; it is then rolled; and, dried in this
manner, it keeps for a long time without becoming
tainted. These pieces are called the tenderloins,
and are in great demand in the village when the
hunters return. This hunt ends about Christmas.
The savages come back loaded with these tenderloins,
and it is wonderful what heavy loads the men
and women carry on the march. The remainder of
the time until the month of march is passed in the
winter quarters, where the women are continually
occupied. The men go, from time to time, to hunt
for deer or bear, and spend the rest of the time in
gaming, dancing, singing partisque fruuntur. They
are all gentlemen, the sole occupation of whose lives
consists in hunting, in fishing, and in war.

The life that the savages lead in the village is
about the same as that in their winter quarters. The
women alone till the soil, and sow; they do this
carefully, and consequently the corn is very fine and
abundant. The idleness of the men is the cause
of all their debauchery, and of their aversion to the
christian religion. Balls are held here, as in France;
while in a cabin the dancers move about to the
cadence of a kind of drum, you hear, on the other
hand, some old woman singing.

I am almost forgetting to tell you of our gardens.
One of their finest ornaments is what we call the
watermelon, which grows to an extraordinary size.
It has a very sweet taste, and differs from our
melons because it does not turn yellow. These
melons are eaten without salt, and are harmless
even when eaten in quantities.

The above, my Reverend Father, is a short description
of the climate and of the customs of our

J'oubliois de vous parler de nos jardins; un de
leurs plus beaux ornements est ce que nous appelons
les melons d'eau; ils viennent exorbitamment gros;
le gout en est fort doux, et ils sont différents de nos
melons en ce qu'ils ne jaunissent pas: ils se mangent
sans sel, et la quantité n'en est pas malfaisante.

Voilà, mon R^d Père, un petit narré du climat et
des mœurs de nos Ilinois. Les jeunes enfants nous
y donnent toujours une grande espérance pour
l'avenir, ils ont un empressement merveilleux pour
se faire instruire, et l'envie d'avoir une aiguille, et
un grain rouge, ou quelque petite croix ou médaille,
fait qu'ils s'appliquent à bien répondre et qu'ils
apprennent beaucoup en peu de temps.

Je suis
Mon révérend Père
Votre très humble et très obéissant
serviteur en Nostre Seigneur,
Julien Binneteau
de la Compagnie de Jésus.

Ilinois. The young children always give us great
hopes for the future. They are wonderfully eager
to be instructed; and their desire to obtain a needle,
a red bead, or a small cross or medal, makes them
try to give correct answers, and they learn a great
deal in a short time.

I remain,
My reverend Father,
Your very humble and very
obedient servant in Our Lord,
Julien Binneteau,
of the Society of Jesus.

Lettre du P. Gabriel Marest, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie.

Il y a près d'un an que je suis dans cette
mission; le pays y est fort different de celuy du costé
de Quebec. Le climat y est chaud, les terres fertiles,
le peuple d'un esprit facile et doux. Voicy en quel
estat y est la religion: parmi les hommes il y en
a peu qui embrassent le christianisme; surtout les
jeunes gens, qui vivent dans de monstrueux désordres,
qui les éloignent entièrement de la vertu et qui les
rendent incapables d' écouster leurs missionaires.
Priez Dieu, mon Révérend Père, qu'il jette les yeux
de sa miséricorde sur eux et qu'il les tire d'un estat
si déplorable. Au contraire, les femmes et les filles
se trouvent entièrement disposées à recevoir le
baptême, pleines de constance et de fermeté quand
elles l'ont une fois reçu; ferventes à la prière, ne
demandant qu'à estre instruites, fréquentant souvent
les sacrements, enfin capables de la plus haute
sainteté. Le nombre de celles qui embrassent notre
sainte religion augmente de jour en jour d'une
manière considérable, jusques à ce que, depuis peu,
nous avons esté obligés de faire une nouvelle église,
la première se trouvant trop petite; et à voir comme

Letter of Father Gabriel Marest, of the Society of Jesus, to a Father of the same Society.

I have been nearly a year in this mission.
The country here is very different from that about
Quebec. The climate is warm, the soil fertile, the
people of affable and gentle disposition. The state
of religion here is as follows: but few embrace christianity
among the men, especially the young men—who
live in excessive licentiousness, which renders
them utterly averse to virtue, and incapable of listening
to their missionaries. Pray God, my Reverend
Father, to cast a merciful eye upon them, and to
withdraw them from so deplorable a condition.
The women and girls, on the contrary, are very well
disposed to receive baptism; they are very constant
and firm, when once they have received it; they are
fervent in prayer, and ask only to be instructed;
they frequently approach the sacraments; and,
finally, are capable of the highest sanctity. The
number of those who embrace our holy religion
increases daily to a marked degree—so much so that
we have recently been obliged to build a new
church, as the first was too small; and, judging from
the manner in which this one is filled every day, I
think we shall shortly need a third one. Praise be

celle cy se remplit tous les jours, je crois qu'il nous
en faudra faire une troisième. Gloire en soit à Dieu,
qui veut bien répandre icy ses graces avec tant de
profusion.

Comme le village est grand, y ayant près d'une
demie lieue de long, nos fervents chrestiens ont
dressé depuis peu une chapelle aux deux bouts pour
la commodité de l'instruction; ils s'y assemblent, et
je vais leur y faire régulièrement le catéchisme.

Les enfants nous donnent des très belles espérances
pour l'avenir, on ne sauroit croire l'ardeur
qu'ils ont pour se faire instruire; quand ils sont de
retour dans la cabane, ils disent à leurs pères souvent
encore infidèles, ce qu'ils ont appris; surtout ils
savent se moquer des ridicules cérémonies de nos
jongleurs, et nous voyons que, par là, la jonglerie
s'esteint peu à peu.

Il y a près de dix ans que le P. Gravier jetta les
fondements de cette nouuelle chrestienté, qu'il a cultivé
avec des soins et des peines incroyables. Le R.
P. Binneteau a succedé à ses fatigues et à ses fruicts.
Enfin, on peut dire que c'est icy une de nos plus
belles missions: en vérité, on ne conçoit pas en
France, le bien qu'on peut faire parmi ces nombreuses
nations; il faut avouer aussi qu'on y a de
l'occupation pour l'ordinaire audessus de ses forces,
et il faut que Dieu nous soutienne d'en haut pour
ne pas succomber au travail. Voicy un plan de
notre vie.

Tous les jours, avant le soleil levé, nous disons la
messe pour la commodité de nos chrestiens, qui s'en
vont de là à leur travail. Les sauvages y chantent
des prières, ou en récitent ensemble; au sortir de

As the village is large, being nearly half a league
in length, our fervent christians have lately erected
a chapel at each end, so that instruction may be
more easily given. They meet in these, and I go
there regularly to teach them the catechism.

The children give us bright hopes for the future.
It is impossible to believe how eager they are to be
instructed. When they return to their cabins, they
tell their fathers, who are often still infidels, what
they have learned. Above all, they know how to
laugh at the jugglers' ridiculous ceremonies; and
we see that jugglery is, in consequence, gradually
disappearing.

Nearly ten years ago Father Gravier laid the foundations
of this new christendom, which he fostered
with care and trouble beyond belief. Reverend
Father Binneteau has succeeded to his labors, and to
the fruits thereof. In fact, we may say that this is
one of our finest missions. In truth, it is impossible
to imagine in France the good that can be done
among these populous nations. It must also be confessed
that, as a rule, we have occupation beyond
our strength; and we need to be sustained by God
from on high, not to succumb beneath the burden
of our labors. Here is a description of the life we
lead:

Every day, before sunrise, we say mass for the
convenience of our christians, who go from it to their
work. The savages chant the prayers, or recite
them together during mass,—after which we disperse
in different directions to teach the children the
catechism; and then we have to visit the sick. On

la messe, nous allons dans divers quartiers faire le
catéchisme aux enfants; ensuite il faut aller voir les
malades. Au retour on trouve toujours plusieurs
sauvages qui viennent nous consulter sur differentes
choses. Après midy, trois fois la semaine, se fait
un grand catéchisme pour tout le monde; de là on
va par les cabanes confirmer les chrestiens et tascher
de gagner quelque idolâtre. Ces visites sont d'une
très grande utilité, et je remarque que le missionaire
ne manque jamais d'y faire quelque nouvelle conquête,
ou d'y ramener quelque brebis egarée. Les
visites se font aujourdhui dans un quartier et demain
dans un autre, estant absolument impossible de
parcourir toutes les cabanes en un jour.

Quand nous revenons à la maison, nous la retrouvons
toute pleine de nos fervents chrestiens qui
viennent pour recevoir quelque instruction ou pour
se confesser; c'est ordinairement en ce temps là que
j'explique des images de l'ancien et du nouveau
testament; ces sortes d'images frappent l'esprit du
sauvage et luy aident beaucoup à retenir ce qu'on luy
apprend; se fait ensuite la prière publique où tout
le monde se trouve, et une demie heure d'instruction;
au sortir de là, plusieurs veulent nous parler en particulier,
et souvent la nuit est déjà bien avancée,
avant qu'on ayt pu contenter tout le monde. Voilà
ce qui se fait tous les jours. Les samedys et les
dimanches sont entièrement occupés pour les confessions:
ainsi un missionaire n'a icy que la nuit de
libre, encore souvent prend-on ce temps là pour
apprendre à quelques uns à chanter des hymnes.

Pendant l'hiver nous nous partageons en différents
endroits, où les sauvages vont passer cette saison.

our return, we always find several savages who come
to consult us on various matters. In the afternoon,
three times a week, there is general catechism for
all the people. From that, we go through the cabins
to strengthen the christians, and endeavor to win
some idolater. These visits are very useful, and I
notice that the missionary never fails to effect some
fresh conquest, or to bring back some strayed sheep.
The visits are paid one day in one quarter, and on
the morrow in another; for it is absolutely impossible
to go through all the cabins in one day.

When we return to the house, we find it filled with
our fervent christians, who come to receive instruction
or to confess. It is generally at this time that
I explain the pictures of the old and of the new
testament. Pictures of this kind produce an impression
upon the savage's mind, and greatly assist him
in remembering what we tell him. Then the public
prayers are said, which all attend; and they are followed
by a half-hour's instruction. After leaving
the church, many wish to speak to us in private; and
the night is frequently far advanced before we can
satisfy every one. This is what we do every day.
Saturdays and sundays are completely occupied in
hearing confessions. Thus a missionary is free only
at night; and even that time is often taken to teach
some of the people to sing the hymns.

During the winter we separate, going to various
places where the savages pass that season. Last
winter I had for my share a village of considerable
size, three leagues from here; after saying mass
there on sundays, I came to say it again here, at the
fort, for our French.

J'avois pour moi l'hiver passé un assez gros village à
trois liéues d'icy où après avoir dit la messe les
dimanches, je venois encore la dire icy au fort, à nos
François.

Il a passé par icy trois Messieurs du Séminaire de
Quebec que Mgr l'Evesque envoyoit establir des
Missions sur le Missisipi. Nous les avons reçu le
mieux que nous avons pu, les logeant chez nous et
leur faisant part de ce que nous pouvions avoir dans
une disette aussi grande que celle où nous avons esté
toute l'année dans le village. En partant nous les
avons aussi engagés à prendre sept sacs de bled qui
nous restoient, leur cachant nostre pauvreté, afin
qu'ils eussent moins de peine à recevoir ce que nous
leur offrions. Dans une autre de nos Missions,
nous avons encore nourri deux de leurs gens pendant
tout cet hyver.

Comme ces Messieurs ne savoient pas l'Ilinois,
nous leur avons donné un recueil de prières et un
catéchisme traduict, avec les remarques que nous
avons pu faire sur cette langue, afin de les aider à
l'apprendre; enfin nous leur avons fait toutes les
honnêtetés et toutes les amitiés possibles.

Demandez à Dieu, mon R. Père, qu'il me fasse la
grâce de lui être fidèle et de remplir icy les
desseins qu'il a sur moi pour l'avancement de sa
gloire et l'entière conversion des peuples qu'il a bien
vouloir confier à nos soins.

Je suis
Mon Révérend Père
Votre très humble et
obéissant serviteur
Gabriel Marest, S.J.

by Monseigneur the Bishop to establish Missions on
the Missisipi, passed through here. We received
them as well as we were able, lodging them in our
own house, and sharing with them what we could
possess amid a scarcity as great as that which prevailed
in the village throughout the year. On leaving, we
also induced them to take seven sacks of corn that
we had left, concealing our poverty from them, so
that they might have less objection to receiving
what we offered them. In another of our Missions,
we also fed two of their people during the whole of
last winter.

As these Gentlemen did not know the Ilinois language,
we gave them a collection of prayers, and a
translation of the catechism, with the notes that we
have been able to make upon that language, in order
to help them to learn it. In fine, we showed them
every possible attention and kindness.

Entreat God, my Reverend Father, to grant me
the grace of being faithful to him, and of fulfilling
here his designs regarding me for the advancement
of his glory, and the entire conversion of these
people, whom he has been pleased to confide to our
care.

I remain,
My Reverend Father,
Your very humble and
obedient servant,
Gabriel Marest, S.J.

Lettre du Père Jacques Bigot, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie.

Je partis sur la fin du mois d'aoust, pour
aller dans une de nos missions de l'Acadie, prendre
la place de mon frère qui estoit incommodé. I'y
arrivai la veille de la Nativité de la Sainte Vierge,
où j'eus d'abord la consolation de confesser avec luy
et de communier plus de deux cents de nos sauvages.
Comme c'est le premier hyver qu'on ait passé dans
ce village tout récemment estably, je vous avoueray
que j'ay eu quelque chose à souffrir, tant pour le
logement que pour les vivres; mais toutes ces peines
ne sont rien en comparaison de la consolation que
j'ay eu de jouir dans cette mission des fruicts des
travaux de mon frère, et d'y trouver la plupart des
sauvages dans une très grande ferveur. On ne
sauvoit entrer dans leur chapelle, sans qu'on y en
trouve quelqu'un adorant Jésus Christ dans le Saint
Sacrement; ils s'excitent les uns les autres dans
ce saint exercise, et tachent de tesmoigner par là
combien ils sont reconnoissants de l'honneur que leur
fait ce Dieu caché, de demeurer ainsy dans leur
pauvre chapelle, quelques uns y viennent dès trois
heures du matin; plusieurs y passent les deux heures

Letter of Father Jacques Bigot, of the Society of Jesus, to a Father of the same Society.

I started about the end of the month of
august to go to one of our missions of Acadia, to
take the place of my brother, who was in poor
health. I reached the mission on the vigil of the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, when I had in the
first place the consolation of confessing and giving
communion, with him, to more than two hundred of
our savages. As that is the first winter that we have
passed in this village, which has been but recently
established, [10] I must confess that I had to endure
some discomfort as regards lodging and food; but
all these things are nothing in comparison with the
consolation that I have experienced in enjoying the
fruits of my brother's labors in this mission, and in
finding very great fervor in most of the savages.
We cannot enter their chapel without finding some
one adoring Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
They incite one another to the performance of this
holy devotion, and endeavor thereby to show how
grateful they are for the honor done them by that
hidden God, in thus remaining in their poor chapel.
Some of them come as early as three o'clock in the
morning; many pass two whole hours there on their

entières à genoux; j'en connois qui ne manquent
jamais d'y aller tous les jours à midy.

D'autres en revenant de la forest, après avoir mis
leurs charges de bois dans leurs cabanes, vont aussitost
saluer Nostre Seigneur. Comme la plus grande
partie des sauvages de ce village ne sont baptisés que
depuis peu de temps, et qu'ils n'ont pu estre tout à
fait instruits, j'ay toujours fait deux instructions
publiques dans la chapelle, et une troisième dans une
cabane particulière pour leur apprendre et pour leur
expliquer des chants sur les mystères; celà ne les
contentoit pas encore, de sorte que quand j'allois
dans les cabanes, ils me faisoient mille questions,
importunité sans doute bien agréable. Dès que je
faisois le cri dans le village pour l'instruction des
enfants, plusieurs, tant hommes que femmes venoient
se joindre à eux pour en profiter. Quelques uns
dès la fin de septembre, avoient coustume de se
retirer dans les bois jusqu'au printemps, pour y
passer l'hyver plus commodément; cette année, ceux
là ont différé plus de trois mois à le faire, afin de
pouvoir estre instruits.

Je desesperai quasi de la conversion de deux
jeunes sauvages d'environ vingt cinq ans, grace à
Dieu, ils ont tellement changé depuis quelque
temps, qu'aujourd'hui je suis autant consolé de leur
ferveur et de leur docilité que j'estois auparavant
affligé de leur fierté et de leur indifference pour le
Christianisme. Un troisième estant retombé dans ses
désordres, après avoir este baptisé, j'ay esté obligé
de moderer les mortifications et les austerités que
vouloient faire deux de ses parentes pour obtenir de
Dieu sa conversion.

Others on returning from the forest, after depositing
their loads of fuel in their cabins, go at once to
adore Our Lord. As most of the savages of this
village have been baptized only within a short time,
and have not yet been fully instructed, I have
always given two public instructions in the chapel,
and a third in a private cabin, to teach them and
explain to them chants on the mysteries. This did
not content them, and when I went into the cabins
they put a thousand questions to me—an importunity
that was assuredly very agreeable. As soon as
I uttered in the village the call for the children's
instruction, many, both men and women, came to
join them, in order to profit by it. Some were in the
habit of retiring into the woods as early as the end
of september, and of remaining until the spring, in
order to pass the winter there in greater comfort.
This year they put off doing so for more than three
months, in order that they might be instructed.

I almost despaired of the conversion of two young
savages, about twenty-five years of age. Thanks be
to God, they have so greatly changed for some time
past that at present I am as greatly consoled by their
fervor and docility as I was formerly afflicted by
their pride and indifference to Christianity. A third
relapsed into his evil ways after being baptized; and
I was obliged to moderate the mortifications and
austerities that two of his female relatives wished to
practice, in order to obtain his conversion from God.

A young woman came to tell me that she had
promised God, two years before, not to remarry;
that she wished to keep her word; and, to that end,

Une jeune femme n'est venue dire que, depuis
deux ans, elle avoit promis à Dieu de ne se jamais
remarier, qu'elle vouloit lui garder sa parole et que
pour cela elle me prioit de dire à ses parents de ne
luy plus parler de mariage.

Une autre de même age, dans la première communion
qu'elle fit après la mort de son mari, promit
à Jésus Christ de ne se plus marier. Comme je la
blâmois d'avoir fait cela sans m'en avoir parlé, elle
m'a dit tout simplement que, possédant Jésus Christ
après la communion, elle n'avoit pu s'empescher de
luy dire: Je suis maintenant toute à vous, mon divin
Jésus, et jamais je n'auray d'autre espoux que vous.
Je ne puis vous exprimer tout ce qu'a voulu faire
cette fervente chrestienne pour le repos de l'ame de
son mary.

Depuis quelques jours nos Abnaquis ont commencé
à rendre par échange les Anglois qu'ils avoient pris
en guerre, et c'est icy, mon révérend Père, où la
religion Catholique a triomphé de l'hérésie en la
personne mesme des enfants. Selon l'accord fait
entre les deux nations, il est libre à ceux qui ont
plus de quatorze ans de rester chez les ennemis,
mais on a droit de part et d'autre de reprendre,
malgré eux, ceux qui sont au dessous de cet âge.
Quand on vint a ramener un pauvre enfant de douze
à treize ans, vous n'eussiez pu retenir vos larmes,
voyant comme il conjuroit les sauvages de le retenir;
Je vais me perdre, s'ecrioit il en pleurant, gardez
moi avec vous, afin que je ne sois point damné. Il
confondit le capitaine de sa nation, qui estoit venu
faire l'échange, luy soutenant que les François et les
Sauvages prioient beaucoup mieux que les Anglois.

Another of the same age made a promise to Jesus
Christ, the first time when she received communion
after her husband's death, never to marry again.
When I blamed her for doing so without speaking
to me, she said quite simply that when she possessed
Jesus Christ in her soul after communion, she could
not refrain from saying to him: "I now belong
wholly to you, my divine Jesus, and I will have no
other spouse but you." I cannot tell you all that
this fervent christian wished to do for the repose of
her husband's soul.

Our Abnaquis have begun during the past few
days to restore, by exchange, the English prisoners
whom they had taken in war; and in this, my reverend
Father, the Catholic religion has triumphed over
heresy in the very persons of its children. In accordance
with the compact made between the two
nations, those who are over fourteen years of age are
free to remain with the enemy; but both sides have
the right to take back those who are under that age,
whether they like it or not. When they came to
take away a poor boy of twelve or thirteen, you
could not have restrained your tears had you seen
how he begged the savages to keep him. "I shall
be lost," he exclaimed, with sobs. "Keep me with
you, so that I may not be damned." He covered
with confusion the captain of his nation, who came
to effect the exchange, by asserting that the French
and the Savages prayed much better than the
English. Some days previously, at Québec, a young
Englishman had, under similar circumstances, covered
a minister with confusion in the presence of

Quelques jours auparavant, à Québec, un jeune
Anglois, en pareille circonstance, avoit fait la même
confusion à un ministre, en presence de M. le Gouverneur.
Quatre filles Angloises ont absolument
refusé de retourner à Boston, et ont mieux aimé
demeurer avec nos Sauvages que de se mettre en
danger, ont elles dit, d'estre perverties par les ministres.
Une autre vient de me dire qu'elle estoit
resolue d'en faire autant, ne comptant pour rien,
m'a-t-elle dit, la dureté de la vie misérable et pauvre
des Sauvages pour se conserver dans la vraye religion.
Sept petits Anglois ayant entendu parler que
l'échange alloit se faire, se sont cachés dans les bois,
de peur qu'on ne les ramenast; deux autres, plus
avancés en âge, et qui sont morts, il y a quelques
mois, après avoir fait icy leur première communion,
m'avoient bien assurés qu'ils ne retourneroient point.
Cette ferveur des Anglois parmy nous, doit faire
honneur à nos bons Sauvages, qui ont un soin et un
zèle admirable, pour les mener aux missionnaires, et
pour les instruire eux mêmes, dès qu'ils les ont pris.
Je les trouve d'abord fort prévenus contre nous;
mais peu à peu ils se laissent persuader par la
dévotion et par l'assiduité à la prière de nos Abnaquis;
ce qu'ils ne voient point, disent ils, dans leur
colonie.

Je vous écris cecy, mon reverend Père, sur le bord
de la mer, où je suis avec nos sauvages, qui y sont
venus pour traitter de paix avec un vaisseau anglois
qui y est à la rade. Le voyage m'a extremement
fatigué, outre que nous manquons quasi de vivres à
cause du mauvais temps; j'en avois un peu apporté;
mais dès la première nuit, un chrestien, qui avoit

Monsieur the Governor. Four English girls positively
refused to return to Boston, and preferred to
live with our Savages rather than run the risk, they
said, of being perverted by the ministers. Another
came to tell me that she was resolved to do the
same; for she said that she thought nothing of enduring
the hardships of the miserable and wretched
life led by the Savages, provided she remained in
the true religion. Seven little English boys, who
heard of the exchange that was to be effected, hid
themselves in the woods, through fear of being taken
away. Two others who were older, and who died
some months ago after making their first communion
here, had assured me positively that they would not
return. This fervor of the English among us does
honor to our good Savages, who display admirable
care and zeal in bringing them to the missionaries,
and in themselves instructing them as soon as they
take them. At first I find them greatly prejudiced
against us, but they gradually allow themselves to
be persuaded by the devotion of our Abnaquis and
their zeal for prayer—which they do not find, they
say, in their colony.

I write you this, my reverend Father, from the
sea-shore, where I am with my savages who have
come to treat for peace with an english ship now in
the harbor. The journey fatigued me greatly; and,
moreover, we were almost without food on account
of the bad weather. I had brought a little with me;
but, on the very first night, a christian who had a
good appetite ate the leathern bag in which I had
put it, and did not spare the contents. We regale
ourselves with oysters, which we procure when the
tide is low; that is, indeed, all that we have had to

bon appétit, mangea le sac de cuir où je les avois
mis et n'épargne pas ce qu'il y avoit dedans. Nous
nous regalons d'huitres, que nous allons prendre,
quand la mer est basse: c'est aussi tout ce que nous
avons à manger, depuis quelque temps. Le
capitaine du vaisseau dit d'abord que le Gouverneur
de la Nouvelle Angleterre vouloit absolument que
les Abnaquis chassassent les missionaires françois,
et qu'il leur en donneroit de sa nation. Nous n'en
ferons rien, dirent aussitost les capitaines Abnaquis.
Vous voudriez nous faire prier comme vous, mais
vous n'en viendrez pas à bout. La proposition des
Anglois les a tellement irrités, qu'ils ont répondu
que l'Anglois eut à sortir de leur pays, qu'ils ne
souffriroient jamais, qu'il s'y établisse: que par leur
choix ils s'estoient donnés au grand capitaine des
François et qu'ils ne reconnoissoient que luy. Les
Anglois en ont mal usé d'ailleurs, en retenant depuis
trois ans, malgré leur parole donnée plusieurs fois,
deux Abnaquis, par lesquels ils ont retiré des mains
de ces sauvages plus de trente Anglois, promettant
toujours de rendre ceux qu'on leur avoit demandé,
et cependant n'en avoient encore rien fait. Il faut
avouer aussi que d'un autre costé, les Abnaquis,
animés par cette perfidie, leur ont pris et tué bien
de monde.

Le capitaine anglois m'a fait faire beaucoup d'honnêtetés,
m'invitant même à venir sur son bord; mais
je n'ay eu garde de me mettre ainsi entre ses mains;
si je l'avois fait, je crois que de longtemps je n'aurois
revu ma chère Mission. Je me suis contenté de lui
escrire une lettre de remerciement. Je pars pour
Quebec avec quelques uns de nos sauvages, pour

eat for some time. At first the captain of the ship
said that the Governor of New England insisted
upon the Abnaquis driving away the french missionaries,
and that he would give them some of his own
nation. "We will do nothing of the kind," the
Abnaquis captains at once replied. "You may try
to make us pray as you do, but you will not succeed."
The proposal made by the English irritated
them to such an extent that they answered that
the English must quit their country; that they would
never suffer them to settle there; that, of their own
free will, they had given themselves to the great
captain of the French, and that they acknowledged
him alone. The English, moreover, have treated
them badly; for, in spite of their word pledged on
several occasions, they have for three years detained
two Abnaquis, through whom they have withdrawn
more than thirty English from the hands of those
savages, by always promising to give up those who
were demanded of them; and, nevertheless, they
have not yet done so. It must also be admitted, on
the other hand, that the Abnaquis, irritated by this
treachery, have captured and killed many of the
English people.

The english captain showed me much attention,
and even invited me on board his ship; but I was
careful not to place myself in his hands by doing so.
Had I done this, I think that I would not have seen
my beloved Mission again for a long time. I contented
myself with writing him a letter of thanks. I
am about to leave for Quebec, with some of our
savages, to report to Monsieur the Governor what
passed during that interview with the English.

rendre compte à Mr. le Gouverneur de ce qui s'est
passé dans cette entrevue avec l'Anglois.

J'arrive de Quebec, après avoir salué et entretenu
Monsieur le Gouverneur qui est très content de la
manière dont nos Abnaquis, ont repondu aux
Anglois. Je m'etois remis au plus tost sur les
glaces, afin d'arriver à l'Acadie avant que les rivières
fussent déprises; mais le degel me surprit au bout
de quelques jours, ce qui augmenta la fatigue du
voyage de telle sorte qu'une grosse fièvre me prit: je
croyois en mourir le jour de l'Annonciation de la
Sainte Vierge, et on me ramena le mieux qu'on pût
à Quebec, où j'ai esté malade près de cinq semaines.
Je repartis enfin après Pâques, et par mon retour je
donnai bien de la joye à mes chers sauvages, qui me
croyoient mort. Aussitost je me mis à parcourir les
trois villages, pour les confesser, leur faire faire
leurs Pâques, et les fortifier contre les sollicitations
des Anglois, qui font tout ce qu'ils peuvent pour les
engager à recevoir des ministres. Toutes ces fatigues
m'ont redonné la fièvre, je n'ay pas laisse cependant
de faire toutes mes fonctions et je n'ay passé qu'un
jour sans avoir eu la consolation de dire la messe.

Je suis, de Votre Révérence
Mon Révérend Père
Le très humble et
très obéissant serviteur
Jacques Bigot.

respects to and conversing with Monsieur the Governor,
who is very well pleased with the answer
given by our Abnaquis to the English. I set out at
once on the ice to reach Acadia before the rivers
broke up, but the thaw overtook me at the end of a
few days; this greatly increased the fatigue of the
journey—to such an extent, that I was attacked by
a violent fever. I thought that I would die from it,
on the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed
Virgin; and they took me back, as well as they could,
to Quebec, where I was ill for nearly five weeks.
At last I started once more, after Easter; and my
return caused great joy among my beloved savages,
who thought me dead. I at once set about visiting
the three villages to confess the savages, to make
them perform their Easter duties, and to strengthen
them against the solicitations of the English—who
do everything in their power to induce them to
receive ministers. All these fatigues have brought
on a second attack of fever. Nevertheless, I perform
all my duties; and not a day has passed without
my having the consolation of saying mass.

I remain, of Your Reverence,
My Reverend Father,
The very humble and
very obedient servant,
Jacques Bigot.

CLXXV—CLXXVII

Documents of 1701-1702

Sources: In publishing all three of these documents, we follow original MSS. in Paris archives; that of Doc. CLXXV. rests in the archives of l'École de Ste. Geneviève; of Doc. CLXXVI., in the archives of the Ministère des Colonies; and of Doc. CLXXVII., in the Archives Nationales.

Relation ou Journal du voyage du Pere Gravier, de la Compagnie de Jesus en 1700 depuis le Pays des Illinois Jusqu'a l'Embouchure du Fleuve Mississipi

écrit au Pere de Lamberuille et Envoyé du Fort de Mississipi a 17. Lieües de sa decharge dans le Golfe ou mer Mexique Le 16^e. Feuvrier 1701

J'ay recû a mon retour de Michilimachinack
la lettre que vous m'auez fait l'honneur de mecrire
par le Mississipy Inscrite au Pere Aueneau qui me la
envoyée a Chikagoüa, d'ou je Suis party en 1700
le 8^e. Septembre pour venir icy. je suis arriué trop
tard aux Illinois du detroit dont le Pere Marest a
soin, pour empescher la transmigration du Village
des Kaskaskia qu'on a fait auec trop de precipitation
sur les nouuelles incertaines de l'etablissement de
Mississipi. Je ne crois pas que les Kaskaskia se
fassent ainsi separez des Peoüarooüa, et des autres
Illinois du détroit, si J'y fusse arrivé plûtost. J'y
suis du moins venu assez tôt pour reunir un peu les
esprits, et pour empêcher l'insulte que les Peoüaroüa
et les Moüingoüeña êtoient resolus de faire aux
Kaskaskia et aux François en s'embarquant. J'ay
parlé a tous les Chefs en plein Conseil, et comme
ils conseruent toujours quelque respect et quelque
bonne volonté pour moy, l'on s'est separé fort

Relation or Journal of the voyage of Father Gravier, of the Society of Jesus, in 1700, from the Country of the Illinois To the Mouth of the Mississipi River.

Written to Father de Lamberville and Sent from Fort Mississipi, 17 Leagues from its discharge into the Mexican Gulf or sea, on The 16th of February, 1701.

I received on my return from Michilimachinack
the letter that you did me the honor of writing
to me by way of the Mississipy, Addressed to Father
Aveneau, who sent it to me at Chikagoua—whence
I started in 1700, on the 8th of September, to come
here. I arrived too late among the Illinois of the
strait—of whom Father Marest has charge—to prevent
the migration of the Village of the Kaskaskia,
which has been too precipitately made, in consequence
of uncertain news respecting the Mississipi
settlement. I do not think that the Kaskaskia would
have thus separated from the Peouarooua and from
the other Illinois of the strait, if I could have arrived
sooner. [11] I reached them at least soon enough to
conciliate their minds to some extent, and to prevent
the insult that the Peouaroua and the Mouingoueña
were resolved to offer the Kaskaskia and the French
when they embarked. I addressed all the Chiefs in full Council, and, as they continue to retain some respect and good will for me, they parted very

paisiblement. Mais je n'augure rien de bon de
cette Separation que j'ay toujours empeschée n'en
voyant que trop les mauuaises suites; Et Dieu veüille
que le chemin de Chikagoüa au détroit ne soit pas
fermé, et que toute la mission Illinoise n'en souffre
beaucoup. Je vous auoüe mon R^d. P. que j'ay le
cœur serré de voir mon ancien troupeau ainsi diuisé,
et dispersé, et je ne le reverray pas, apres l'auoir
quitté que je n'aye quelque nouueau Sujet d'affliction.
des Peoüaroüa que j'ay laissés sans missionaire
(puis que le P. Marest a Suiui les Kaskaskia)
m'ont promis quils conserueroient l'Eglise, et qu'ils
attendroient mon retour de Mississipi, ou je leur ay
dit que je n'allois que pour masseurer de la verité de
tout ce qu'on en disoit; ce qui leur a fait grand
plaisir, ils m'ont promis qu'ils ne quitteroient pas
leur Village que je ne leur marquasse ou le grand
Chef qui est aubas du Fleuue voudroit qu'ils le transportassent.
Je doute fort qu'ils tiennent leur parole.
Apres avoir marché quattre jours avec les Kaskaskia,
J'ay pris les deuants auec Le P. Marest que j'ay
laissé malade aux Tamarouha, ou le P. Pinet fait
paisiblement toutes les Fonctions de Missionnaire,
Et M^r. Bergier qui en agit fort bien auec nous,
n'a soin que des François, et c'est une bonne decharge
pour le Pere Pinet. Je Suis parti des Tamarouha
le 9^e. Octobre pour venir icy au bas du Mississipi
au secours du pere du Ru. J'estois accompagné de 5
Canots de françois, pour moy je n'auois dans mon
Canot que le frere Guibert, et un François malade de
la fieure tierce. a 2 Lieuës du village je trouuay les
Tamarouha, qui ont pris leur quartier d'hyuer dans
une belle Anse, ou ils attendent les Metchigamia,

peaceably. But I augur no good from this Separation,
which I have always opposed, for I foresaw
but too well the evil consequences that would result
from it. And may God grant that the road from
Chikagoua to the strait be not closed, and that the
entire Illinois mission may not suffer greatly thereby.
I admit to you, my Reverend Father, that my heart
is heavy at seeing my former flock thus divided
and scattered; and I shall never see it again, after
having left it, without having some new Cause for
affliction. The Peouaroua, whom I left without a
missionary (for Father Marest has Followed the
Kaskaskia), promised me that they would preserve
the Church, and await my return from Mississipi—whither,
I told them, I was going solely for the
purpose of ascertaining the truth of all that was said
of it. This gave them great pleasure; they promised
me that they would never leave their Village until
I should inform them to what place the great Chief
who is at the lower end of the River wished them
to remove. I am very doubtful whether they will
keep their word. After journeying four days with
the Kaskaskia, I went on ahead with Father Marest,
whom I left ill among the Tamarouha, where Father
Pinet performs in peace all the Duties of a Missionary.
Meanwhile, Monsieur Bergier, who works very
well with us, has charge of the French only, which
is a great relief for Father Pinet. [12] I left the Tamarouha
on the 9th of October to come here, at the
lower end of the Mississipi, to the assistance of
father du Ru. [13] I was accompanied by 5 Canoes
manned by frenchmen. For my part, I had in my
Canoe only brother Guibert, and a Frenchman who
was ill with tertian fever. At 2 Leagues from the

qui doiuent venir de plus de 60. lieües hyuerner, et
ne faire qu'un village auec eux: L'un de nos missionnaires
les doit visiter durant tout l'hyuer de 2. en
2. jours, et en faire autant aux Kaöukia, qui ont pris
leur quartier d'hyuer a 4 lieuës plus haut que le
village, Nous ne fimes que 4. lieuës le 1^er. jour, a
cause quun de nos Canots ouuert par un chicot caché
dans l'eau nous arrestat pour le racõmoder. Le 10^e.
jour apres une lieuë de marche nous decouurimes la
Riuiere Miaramigoüa ou est la mine de plomb tres
abondante a 12 ou 13 lieuës de Son embouchure.
Cette mine rend le 3 quarts, L'onzieme nous auons
tué un bufle ou bœuf sauuage qui nous a coûté 10
ou 12 coups de Fusil tant il a bien defendu sa vie,
La fieure qui a pris a mon pilote nous a obligés de
mettre a terre a une heure apres midi, et en 5 jours
quoi que le courant soit grand nous n'auons fait que
35 lieuës parceque nos malades nous obligent de
mettre a terre de bonne heure, et a cause qu'on perd
beaucoup de temps a tirer sur les bœufs sauuages
dont la Riuiere est bordée, et qu'on laisse presque
tous a manger aux loups. Le 14^e. nous auons doublé
le cap S^te. Croix. C'est un petit rocher qui fait au
Nord de Mississipi une petite Isle sur laquelle M^r.
de Montigny a fait planter une Croix, on a tué 2.
Ours, Le 15^e. continuation du beau temps, nous
auons vû ce jour la plus de 50. ours, et de tous ceux
que nous auons tuez, nous n'en auons pris que 4 pour
en auoir de l'huile. Ceux qui descendoient le long
du Mississipi etoient maigres, et Ceux qui venoient
du côté de la riuiere oüabachei étoient gras: Ils
alloient continuellement du Sud au Nord, Il faut
qu'il y fasse meilleur pour Eux. On trouue

village I found the Tamarouha, who have taken up
their winter quarters in a fine Bay, where they await
the Metchigamia,—who are to come more than 60
leagues to winter there, and to form but one village
with them. One of our missionaries will visit them
every 2nd day throughout the winter and do the
same for the Kaoukia, who have taken up their winter
quarters 4 leagues above the village. We made
only 4 leagues the 1st day, because one of our Canoes
was split by a snag hidden in the water, and we had
to halt in order to repair it. On the 10th day, after
proceeding a league, we discovered the River Miaramigoua,
where the very rich lead mine is situated,
12 or 13 leagues from Its mouth. The ore from this
mine yields 3 fourths metal. [14] On the eleventh we
killed a buffalo, or wild ox; he cost us 10 or 12 Gun-shots,
so well did he defend his life. The fever that
attacked my pilot forced us to land an hour after
noon; and in 5 days, although the current was
strong, we traveled only 35 leagues—because our
sick men compelled us to land early; and because
much time was lost in shooting the wild oxen that
abound along the River, almost all of which are left
to be eaten by the wolves. The 14th. We have
doubled cape Ste. Croix. This is a small rock forming
a little Island, on the North side of the Mississipi,
on which Monsieur de Montigny has had a Cross
erected. We killed 2 Bears there. The 15th. The
fine weather continues. To-day we saw over 50
bears, and of all that we killed we took only 4, in
order to obtain some fat. Those that came down the
Mississipi were lean, and Those that came from the
direction of the river ouabachei were fat. They were
continually moving from the South to the North; It

quantité d'Isles et de Battures dans le cours du fleuue
Mississipi, Depuis les Tamarouha jusques a la
Riuiere Oüabachi; cette riuiere garde assez son run
de vent du Nord au Sud; mais à 3 ou 4 lieuës de
Oüabachi, elle commence a tourner au Nord, Nord-ouest,
et ne fait que serpenter, Nous n'auons pû
juger par la route que nous auons faite le 15^e quel
run de vent elle suit. Le Pere Marquette (qui en
fit le 1^er. la decouuerte il y a prez de 30 ans) se met
dans son journal a 3 lieuës de Oüabachi a 36. degrez
et 47. minutes; Nous auons cabané a la veuë de cette
Riuiere qui vient du Sud et se decharge dans le
Mississipi. A son Embouchure elle fait un grand
bassin, a 2. arpens de Sa decharge: Elle s'appelle
par les Illinois et par les Oumiamis la Riuiere des
Akansea, parceque les Akansea l'habitoient autrefois.
On luy donne 3 branches l'une qui vient du Nord-est,
qui passe derriere le pays des Oumiamis nommée la
Riuiere S^t. Joseph que les sauuages appellent proprement
Ouabachi. La 2^de. vient des Iroquois, et
c'est ce qu'ils appellent Ohio, et la 3^e. du Sud
Sudouest sur laquelle Sont les Chaoüanoüa, et se
reunissant toutes 3 pour se jetter dans le Mississipi,
on l'appelle communement Ouabachi: mais les
Illinois et les autres Sauuages lappellent la Riuiere
des Akansea, l'eau en est Claire, elle ne paroist
pas fort rapide, Elle se jette doucement dans le
Mississipi, qui perd un peu de sa couleur bourbeuse
que luy a donnée la Riuiere des Missouris.

J'ay trouué un excellent remede pour guerir nos
François de leur fieure. J'ay promis a Dieu conjointement
auec Pierre de bonne qui auoit une violente
fieure tierce depuis un temps considerable de reciter

must be better there for Them. There are a great
many Islands and Shoals along the course of the
Mississipi river, From the Tamarouha to the Ouabachi
River; this river keeps its course well from North to
South, but, at a distance of 3 or 4 leagues from Ouabachi
it begins to turn to the North-Northwest, and
does nothing but meander. We were enabled to
judge of its course by the route that we followed on
the 15th. Father Marquette (who was 1st to discover
it, nearly 30 years ago) puts it in his journal as being,
at a distance of 3 leagues from Ouabachi, at 36
degrees and 47 minutes. We encamped in sight of
that River, which flows from the South and discharges
into the Mississipi. At its Mouth it forms a wide
basin, 2 arpents from Its discharge. It is called by
the Illinois and by the Oumiamis the River of the
Akansea, because the Akansea formerly dwelt on it.
It is said to have 3 branches: one coming from the
Northeast, which flows at the rear of the country of
the Oumiamis, called the River St. Joseph, which
the savages properly call Ouabachi; The 2nd comes
from the Iroquois country, and is what they call the
Ohio; the 3rd from the South-Southwest, on which
Are the Chaouanoua. As all 3 unite to fall into the
Mississipi, the stream is commonly called Ouabachi;
but the Illinois and other Savages call it the River
of the Akansea. Its water is Clear; it does not
appear to be very rapid. It flows gently into the
Mississipi, which loses a little of its muddy color,
given it by the River of the Missouris.

I have found an excellent remedy for curing our
French of their fever. I promised God, jointly with
Pierre de bonne,—who had a violent tertian fever
for a long time,—to recite for 9 days some prayers

pendant 9 jours quelques prieres en l'honneur du
Pere François Regis dont j'ay des reliques, que je
lui ay appliquées dans le Fort de Son accés, qui a
cessé tout a coup, et ne la plus depuis ce temps la:
Apres la 9^aine. je lui ay repris mon reliquaire que
j'ay pendu au col de Louis du Hemme de la Riuiere
du Loup auec qui j'ay commencé une 2^de. 9^ne. et dés
le 1^er. jour la fieure la quitté, et luy ayant ôté mon
Reliquaire le 4 ou 5^e. jour de la 9^aine. pour le pendre
au col d'un nommé Augustin la pointe de la Coste de
S^t. Michel en Canada, qui auoit déja eü 2 au 3 accés
de fieure, Elle a repris du Hemme, qui m'auoit

dit se voyant guery que je n'auois garde d'estre
malade, ayant toujours ce Reliquaire pendu au col,
et dés que je le luy ôté la fieure la repris, et ne la
quitté qu'après la neuuaine, et la Pointe en a êté
parfaitement guery dez le 1^er. jour que je luy ay
pendu mon Reliquaire au col, que je ne luy ay pas
repris qu'après la 9^aine. accomplie. Et a l'heure qu'il
est Pierre Chabot de l'Isle d'Orléans, qui auoit la
fieure depuis plus de six mois L'ayant pendu au col
dès le 3^e. jour de la 9^ne. cette fieure si opiniatre diminua
et il en fut entierement quitte au bout de la 9^aine.
Un petit morceau du chapeau du Pere François
Regis, qu'un de nos domestiques m'a donné, est le
remede le plus infaillible que je puisse auoir pour
guerir toutes sortes de fieures.

Pour reprendre maintenant ma route, nous sommes
partis le 16^e. octob. de l'Embouchure de Oüabachi
auec un fort beau temps, et nous auons trouué le
Mississipi moins rapide qu'au dessus de Ouabachi.
Comme nous auions grande quantité de viandes,
nous en avons fait seicher a la haste une partie de la

in honor of Father François Regis, whose relics I
have. These I applied to him at His Strongest
paroxysm, which suddenly ceased, and he has had
none since. After the novena, I took back my reliquary
which I hung on the neck of Louis du Hemme,
of Riviere du Loup. [15] I began a 2nd novena with
him, and on the very 1st day the fever left him. I
took my Reliquary from him on the 4th or 5th day
of the novena, to hang it on the neck of a man named
Augustin, from the point of Coste de St. Michel in
Canada, who had already had 2 or 3 attacks of fever.
It again attacked du Hemme—who, when he saw
himself cured, had told me that I took care not to
be sick, for I always had the Reliquary hung on my
neck; and, as soon as I took it from him, the fever
attacked him again and left him only after the
novena. La Pointe was likewise cured, on the very
1st day when I hung my Reliquary on his neck; and
I did not remove it until the novena was finished. At
the very same time Pierre Chabot, [16] of the Island of
Orleans, who had had the fever for over six months,
hung It on his neck; and on the 3rd day of the
novena that very persistent fever decreased, and he
was entirely free from it at the end of the novena.
A small piece of Father François Regis's hat, which
one of our servants gave me, is the most infallible
remedy that I know of for curing all kinds of fever.

Now, to resume our journey. We started on the
16th of october from the Mouth of the Ouabachi, in
very fine weather; and we found the Mississipi less
rapid than above Ouabachi. As we had a great
quantity of meat, we hastily dried a portion of the
best of it and the great heat compelled us to throw
away the remainder. We saw so great a number of

meilleure, et les grandes chaleurs nous ont obligez de
jetter le reste. Nous auons veu une si grande quantité
de pigeons ramiers que l'air en êtoit tout couvert.
Nous auons couru tout le jour au Sud Sud-est et a 5
lieuës au dessous de Oüabachi, Du costé du Sud nous
auons trouué de grandes falaises de Sable ou l'on dit
qu'il y a une mine de fer, les plaques de fer pretendu
attachées a des Cailloux ne sont rien moins que ce
qu'on en croit et qu'on m'a dit: Ce ne sont que des
veines de terre dure et cõme petrifiées, qui ont a la
verité la Couleur de Fer, mais qui ne pezent pas, et
se cassent facilement. J'en ay pris un morceau pour
faire voir que s'il y a une mine de fer on n'en doit
pas juger par cette terre. Nous auons commencé un
peu plus bas a decouurir des Cannes sur les Coteaux,
Elles sont couvertes de Feüilles toujours vertes
depuis le bas jusqu'a la pointe; qui se termine par
un petit bouquet de Feuilles; elles n'ont pas plus de
7 a 8 pieds au bord des Coteaux; mais elles sont de
20. 30. et 40 pieds dans le bois, sur tout depuis les
Akansea. le 18^e. en 3 heures de marche nous auons
Fait tout le tour du Compas, Et apres auoir couru un
peu de temps a l'est Sud est, nous auons Fait encore
le demi tour de la boussole dans une Anse de plus
de 2 Lieuës que lon coupe quand les eaux sont hautes,
Le 19^e. nous auons rejoint les 2. Canots qui nous
auoient quittés, Et vers les 2 heures apres midy nous
auons trouué du costé du Nord a 3 ou 4 lieuës plus
bas, au dela d'une petite prairie un Echo qui repete
5 mots distinctement, et ne commence a repeter ce
qu'on a dit qu'apres qu'on a achevé de prononcer le
dernier mot.

wood-pigeons that the sky was quite hidden by them.
We traveled all day in a South-Southeasterly direction;
and 5 leagues below Ouabachi, On the South
side, we found lofty Sand-cliffs, where an iron mine
is said to exist. The pretended scales of iron
attached to the Stones are not what they are believed
to be, and what I was told. They are nothing but
veins of earth, hard and apparently petrified, which
have in truth the Color of Iron, but have no weight
and break easily. I took a piece of it, in order to
show that, if there be an iron mine there, one cannot
judge of it by that earth. A short distance
below, we began to discover Canes on the Hills.
They are covered with evergreen Leaves from the
base to the summit, which ends in a small tuft of
Leaves. They are not more than 7 or 8 feet high at
the edge of the Hills; but they are 20, 30, and 40
feet high in the woods, especially below the Akansea.
The 18th. In 3 hours' traveling we have
Gone around the Compass; And, after running to
the east-Southeast for a short time, we again Went
half around the compass in a Cove of over 2 Leagues,
which one cuts across when the waters are high.
The 19th. We rejoined the 2 Canoes that had left
us, And about 2 o'clock in the afternoon we found
on the North side—3 or 4 leagues farther down,
beyond a small prairie—an Echo that repeats 5
words distinctly, and, begins repeating what has
been said only after the last word has been
pronounced.

The 20th. Very Hot. We slept in sight of high
rocky bluffs called fort prud'homme, because when
Monsieur de la Salle was on His voyage of discovery,
he remained intrenched there with his people

de grandes ecores de pierres, qu'on appelle le fort
prud'homme, parceque M^r. de la Salle allant a Sa
decouuerte se tint retranché la auec ses gens craignant
que Prudomme qui s'etoit égaré dans le bois
n'eut eté tué par les Sauuages, et qu'il n'en fut luy
même attaqué. On tua l'année precedente quantité
d'Ours en ce lieu la. La pluye nous a arrestés le 22
et le 23^e. sur une grande batture de Sable d'ou nous
auons gaigné une Isle ou il y auoit du bois petrifié je
ne sçay si c'est quelq. source ou quelque veine d'eau
qui a cette vertu, comme il y a en Auuergne sur
les Confins du Bourbonnois, une fontaine minerale
qui petrifie les feuilles des Arbres qui tombent
dedans: ou si c'est le soleil qui noircit et durcit de
petits morceaux de bois pourri qui restent sur le
Sable apres les grandes eaux; quoy qu'il en soit j'en
ay veu et de gros et de petits, on n'en peut guere
douter; car il y en a qui ne sont pas encore tout a
fait petrifiez, et qui sont partie bois et partie pierre
noire qui se rompt assez aisement, et qui s'effeüille
en se rompant, un forgeron qui etoit de la bande,
prenoit le bois petrifié pour du Charbon de terre, mais
outre qu'il n'est pas si pesant, Il a esté conuaincu du
contraire en le jettant au feu. Le 24^e. Nous auons
trouué quantité de raisins, mais qui n'est rien moins
que ce qu'on m'en auoit dit, et qui n'est ni si bon ny
si gros que celui que l'on trouue dans la Riuiere des
Ilinois Et dans la Riuiere des Miamis sur tout et en
plus grande quantité.

Le 25^e. Il est tombé une si grosse pluye quil nous
a fallu monter sur le Coteau de plus de 30 pieds de
haut, et y transporter nôtre Cabanne; Le 26^e. nous
auons passé la Riuiere a Mayot au Sud du nom d'un

through fear that Prudomme, who had lost his way
in the woods, had been killed by the Savages, and
that he himself would be attacked. During the
previous year, a great many Bears were killed here.
On the 22nd and 23rd, the rain detained us on a
great Sand-bank, from which we reached an Island on
which was some petrified wood. I know not whether
there is a spring or vein of water possessing that
virtue, as there is in Auvergne, on the Confines of
Bourbonnois—a mineral spring, that petrifies the
leaves of Trees that fall into it; or whether it is the
sun that blackens and hardens small pieces of decayed
wood that lie on the Sand after the high waters.
At all events, I have seen large and small pieces of
it. There can be no doubt of it, for there are some
that are not yet petrified, and are partly wood and
partly black stone, that break quite easily and
exfoliate on breaking. A blacksmith who was of the
party took the petrified wood for mineral Coal; but,
besides the fact of its not being so heavy, He was
convinced of the contrary when he threw it into the
fire. The 24th. We found a quantity of grapes,
but much fewer than I had been told; and they are
neither as good nor as large as those found on the
River of the Ilinois, And especially on the River of
the Miamis, where they are found in greater
quantities.

The 25th. So heavy a rain fell that we were
compelled to ascend the Hill, which was over 30 feet
high, and to transport thither our Cabin. The
26th. We passed, on the South, the Riviere a
Mayot, called thus after a savage of the Loup nation
who was with Monsieur de la Salle on his voyage of
discovery. That River does not seem very wide;

sauuage de la nation des Loups qui êtoit de la
decouuerte de M^r. de la Salle. Cette Riuiere ne
paroist pas fort grande, mais l'on dit que c'est un bon
lieu de Chasse et que les Chikacha y viennent jusqu'a
l'Embouchure et qu'ils n'en sont eloignez que de 3
jours a couper au midy par dans les terres. A une
lieuë ou 2 plus bas nous auons trouué une pirogue de
Taögria, ce Sont des gens de la nation du loup qui
ont grand commerce auec les Anglois, Il n'y auoit
que 6 hommes, une femme, et un Enfant, ils venoient
des Akansea, celuy qui me paroissoit le plus considerable
disoit quelques mots Ilinois et parloit
Chaöuanoüa: Il m'a fait asseoir sur une peau d'Ours
étendue deuant sa Cabanne de Campagne, et m'a
presenté de la sagamité à manger; ensuitte il ma dit
pour nouuelle que le Pere de Limoges (qu'il nommoit
le Capitaine Pauiongha) auoit tourné en Canot, et
auoit tout perdu; et que les Kappa akansea luy
auoient donné des viures et un Canot pour continuer
sa route. Je luy ay donné un Couteau, et une demie
boïette de vermillion, il ma fait present d'un fort gros
morçeau de viande de sa chasse. Une lieuë apres
l'auoir quitté nous auons tué 4 biches. Nous ne
nous attendions pas a une si heureuse rencontre: aussi
n'auons nous ny tué ny vû aucune beste depuis la
riuiere a Mayot jusqu'a la mer. Le 27^e. nous auons
passé la riuiere de S^t. françois a la pointe d'un détour
au Nord a 18 lieues des Akansea.

Le 29^e. en partant de nre Cabanage, nous auons
couru a loüest, et ensuitte nous auons tenu le
Soroüest vers le midi, nous auons decouuert 4
pirogues d'Akansea, quand mon Canot a êté proche
de terre, un veillard s'est mis a l'eau, et m a porté a

but it is said to be a good Hunting-ground, and that
the Chikacha come down as far as its Mouth, from
which they are distant only 3 days' journey inland,
to the south. [17] A league or 2 lower, we found a
pirogue of Taögria; these Belong to the loup nation,
and carry on a considerable trade with the English.
There were only 6 men in it, with a woman and a
Child; they were coming from the Akansea. He
who seemed the most notable among them could say
a few words of Ilinois, and spoke the Chaouanoua
tongue. He made me sit on a Bearskin spread in
front of his Traveling Cabin, and offered me some
sagamité to eat. He afterward told me, as news,
that Father de Limoges (whom he called Captain
Pauiongha) had upset while in his Canoe, and had
lost everything; and that the Kappa akansea had supplied
him with provisions and a Canoe, to continue
his voyage. [18] I gave him a Knife and half a box
of vermilion; he made me a present of a very large
piece of meat, the produce of his hunting. A league
from the spot where we had left him, we killed 4
does. We did not expect such good fortune, and we
neither killed nor saw a single animal from the
riviere a Mayot to the sea. The 27th. We passed
the river St. françois, at the point of a bend to the
North 18 leagues from the Akansea.

The 29th. On leaving our Camp, we ran in a
westerly direction, and then we headed Southwest.
Toward noon, we came upon 4 pirogues of Akansea;
when my Canoe approached the bank, an old man
entered the water and carried me upon his Shoulders
to the land. The Chief made me sit on a large Bearskin,
and the french on Willow branches, which he
had caused his young men to cut. He made me a

terre sur ses Epaules, Le Chef m'a fait asseoir sur
une grande peau d'Ours, et les francois sur des
branches de Saules qu'il auoit fait couper par ses
jeunes gens, Il m'a fait present de 2. pains de
piakimina que j'ay distribués aux francois, Et affligé
que j'estois de ce qu'ils ne m'entendoient pas leur
voulant parler de Dieu, je me suis retiré pour le
prier pour eux, durant que les Chaudieres boüilloient.
on m'a Seruy un plat de Sagamité de petit
bled dinde, et un autre de petit bled entier, assaisonné
d'excellentes citroüilles: j'ay fait un petit
present au Chef de la Bande et le 30^e. nous sommes
allés Cabanner une lieuë plus bas a une demi lieuë de
l'ancien Village des Akansea (ou ils recûrent autrefois
le Feu Pere Marquette) et qu'on ne reconnoist
plus que par les vieux dehors sans qu'il reste aucune
Cabanne; le 31^e. nous sommes arrivés vers les 9. h.
du matin au Village des Kappa Akansea, qui sont a
24 degrez selon l'estime du P. Marquette. Le
Village est a une demie lieuë du bord de l'eau. M^r.
de Montigny a fait planter une Croix sur le Coteau
qui est fort escarpé et de 40 pieds de haut, apres
auoir salué la Croix et chanté le Vexilla Regis auec
les Francois, on a averty les Akansea par 3 coups de
Fusil, et en moins de demi quart d'heure tout au
plus, deux Jeunes hõmes ont paru le Sabre a la main
suiuis de prés du Chef des Kappa, et de celui des
Tourima, et de 20 ou 30 jeunes hommes bienfaits
avec leurs Arcs et leurs fleches, quelqu'uns auoient
des sabres, et 2 ou 3 fusils Anglois, que leur auoit
donné celui qui l'année precedente leur auoit apporté
quantité de marchandises pour les aliener des françois
et surtout des Missionnaires a qui il en vouloit,

present of 2 loaves of piakimina, [19] which I distributed
among the french. And, as I was grieved
because they would not listen to me when I wished
to speak of God, I withdrew to pray for them while
the Kettles were boiling. I was Served with a dish
of Sagamité made of green indian corn; and another
of whole ears of green corn, seasoned with excellent
squashes. I gave a small present to the Chief of the
Party; and on the 30th we Encamped a league lower
down, half a league from the old Village of the Akansea
(where they formerly received the Late Father
Marquette), which is now recognized only by its old
outworks, for not a Cabin remains. The 31st. We
arrived, about 9 o'clock in the morning, at the
Village of the Kappa Akansea, who are on the 24th
degree, according to Father Marquette's calculation.
The Village is half a league from the water's edge.
Monsieur de Montigny had erected a Cross on the
Hill, which is very steep and 40 feet high. After
saluting the Cross, and chanting the Vexilla Regis
with the French, we gave notice to the Akansea by
3 Gunshots; and in less than ten minutes, at the
most, two Young men appeared with Swords in their
hands,—closely followed by the Chief of the Kappa
and that of the Tourima, [20] and 20 or 30 well-formed
young men with their Bows and arrows. Some had
swords and 2 or 3 English guns, which had been
given them by the person who, the year before, had
brought a quantity of goods to them to alienate them
from the french, and especially from the Missionaries—against
whom he bore malice, for he had
boasted that he would put in irons and kill the 1st
that he should meet. The french, who Seized him,
found material for making a pair of manacles with

s'estant vanté quil mettroit aux fers le 1^er. quil
rencontreroit et le feroit mourir; les françois qui
se Saisirent de lui trouuerent de quoy luy faire une
paire de menotes auec des fers, et l'ont empesché de
Faire tout le mal qu'il se proposoit de Faire; Il
auoit deja 2. Concubines aux Kappa. Au reste les
Chefs m'inuiterent d'aller a leur village, qui est de
40. Cabannes, une partie des françois m'y accompagnerent,
tandis que les autres gardoient les Canots
a l'ancre. On me conduisit dans la Cabanne du Chef,
qui ma fait asseoir sur une natte de Cannes faconnée,
et on a mis en même temps la Chaudiere sur le feu
de petit bled d'inde assaisonné d'une grande quantité
de pesches séches on ma apporté d'une autre
Cabanne un grand plat de fruit de Piakimina Mûr,
Il est a peu pres comme la nefle de France; Le plat
a êté presenté au Chef pour me le donner; Comme
c'est le plus excellent fruit qu'ayent les sauuages
depuis les Ilinois jusqu'a la mer, ce Chef n'a pas
manqué de commencer par la son festin. apres en
auoir un peu goûté, J'ay fait porter le plat au frere
Guibert, et aux françois qui etoient assis vis a vis de
moy, J'en ay fait autant de la Sagamité: J'ay remarqué
que tous Ceux qui entroient dans la Cabanne se
tenoient de bout a la porte, et ne s'auançoient que
quand le Chef leur auoit dit de le faire et de s'asseoir.
Il c'est trouué une femme metchigamikoüé qui ma
serui d'interprete, et qui m'a confirmé le naufrage
du Pere de Limogés qui a perdu tout ce quil auoit:
Elle luy a donné sa prouision de bled et de Citroüilles
pour le conduire jusqu'aux Natchés, et le Chef luy a
donné un pot de terre apres l'auoir regalé le moins
mal qu'il a pû; Je luy ay demandé s'il se souuenoit

iron chains, and prevented him from Doing any of
the evil that he intended to Do. He had already 2
Concubines among the Kappa. However, the Chiefs
invited me to go to their village, which consists of
40 Cabins. A number of the french accompanied
me, while the others kept the Canoes at anchor.
They took me to the Cabin of the Chief, who made
me sit down on a mat of Canes adorned with figures,
and at the same time they put on the fire the Kettle,
containing green indian corn seasoned with a large
quantity of dried peaches. They brought me from
another Cabin a large dish of Ripe fruit of the Piakimina,
which is almost like the medlar of France.
The dish was handed to the Chief to give to me.
As it is the most delicious fruit that the savages have
from the Ilinois to the sea, the Chief did not fail to
begin his feast with it. After tasting a little of it,
I had the dish carried to brother Guibert and to the
frenchmen, who sat opposite me. I did the same with
the Sagamité. I observed that all who entered the
Cabin remained standing at the door, and advanced
only when the Chief told them to do so and to sit
down. There was a metchigamikoué woman who
acted as my interpreter, and who confirmed the news
of Father de Limogés's wreck with the loss of all that
he had. She gave him her supply of corn and
Squashes, to assist him on his journey to the Natchés;
and the Chief gave him an earthen pot, after
regaling him as well as he could. I asked him
whether he remembered having formerly seen in
their village a frenchman, clad in black, and dressed
as I was. He replied that he remembered it very
well, but that it was so long ago that he could not
count the years. I told him that it was more than

d'auoir autrefois vû un françois vetû de noir dans
leur village, habille comme [moy] Jl me repondit
qu'il s'en souuenoit bien, mais qu'il y auoit si longtems
qu'il ne pouuoit pas compter les années, Je luy
ay dit qu'il y auoit plus de 28 ans, Il ma ajousté qu'ils
luy auoient dançé le Calumet de Capitaine, ce que je
n'ay pas compris sur le champ, croyant qu'il parloit
du Calumet des Ilinois que les Kaskaskia auoient
donné au Pere Marquette pour le porter auec Soy
dans le Mississipi comme une Sauvegarde, mais j'ay
trouvé dans le journal du Pere quils luy auoient en
effet dancé le Calumet; Jl ma fait demander ensuite
dans combien de jours je partirois, et luy ayant dit
que je n'auois mis a terre que pour le salüer dans sa
Cabanne, Et que j'allois m'embarquer; Il ma prié de
rester tout au moins un jour pour me faire preparer
des viures, et que tous les jeunes gens de Son village
etoient bien aise de me voir. J'ay repondu a son
compliment, et que j'estois pressé de me rendre. Je
m'etois informé auparauant, S'il n'y auoit point de
malades: mon Jnterprete ma fait entendre quil n'y
en auoit point Enfin apres bien des allées et des
venües et bien des consultations auec ses gens, ce
Chef du village m'a prié de rester jusqu'au lendemain,
parcequ'il vouloit auec sa jeunesse me chanter
le Calumet de Chef: Comme c'est un honneur bien
particulier qui ne se fait que rarement et seulem^t.
aux personnes de distinction je le remerciay de Sa
bonne volonté disant que je ne m'estimois pas Capitaine,
et que je partois sur le Champ. ma reponse
plut aux Francois; mais elle ne fut guere agreable
a tous les autres qui en me Faisant cet honneur
esperoit en tirer des presens; le Chef me conduisit

28 years ago. [21] He also told me that they had danced
to him the Captain's Calumet—which I did not at
first understand, for I thought that he spoke of the
Calumet of the Ilinois, which the Kaskaskia had given
to Father Marquette to carry with Him in the Mississipi
country, as a Safeguard; but I have found,
in the Father's journal, that they had indeed danced
the Calumet to him. He afterward caused me to be
asked in how many days I would start, and, when I
told him that I had landed merely to greet him in
his Cabin, And that I was about to reëmbark, He
begged me to remain at least a day, that he might
have provisions prepared for me; and he said that
all the young men of His village were much pleased
to see me. I replied to his compliment, and said
that I was anxious to reach my destination. I
had previously inquired Whether there were any sick
people; but my Interpreter gave me to understand
that there were none. Finally, after much going
and coming, and many consultations with his people,
the Chief of the village asked me to remain until the
following day, because he wished with his young
men to sing the Chief's Calumet for me. This is a
very special honor, which is paid but seldom, and
only to persons of distinction; so I thanked him for
His good will, saying that I did not consider myself
a Captain, and that I was about to leave at Once. My
answer pleased the French, but was not very agreeable
to all the others who, in Doing me that honor,
hoped to gain presents from me. The Chief escorted
me to the Water's edge, accompanied by all his
people; and they brought me a quantity of dried
peaches, of Piachimina, and of Squashes. I Gave
the Chief a present of a little lead and powder, a box

au bord de l'Eau suiuy de tout son monde, et on
m'apporta quantité de pesches seiches, de Piachimina
et de Citroüilles. Je Fis present au Chef d'un peu
de plomb et de poudre et d'une boëtte de vermillon
pour barbouiller sa jeunesse, et de quelqu'autre
bagatelle quil agrea fort en luy disant que je le
remerciois du bien qu'il auoit Fait au Pere de
Limoges. Apres que je fus embarqué, Ils nous
tirerent quelques coups de Fusils, ausquels les gens
qui êtoient auec moy respondirent. A 2. Lieuës du
Village il y a une petite Riuiere sur laquelle Ils uont
en Canot le printemps par derriere les Coteaux, Jusqu'a
la porte de leurs Cabannes. Puisque J'ay fait
mention cy dessus du Calumet, vous serez bien aise
que je vous en dise icy quelque chose. Jl n'est rien
parmi les Indiens ni de plus mysterieux, ni de plus
recõmandable. on ne rend pas tant d'honneur aux
couronnes et aux sceptres des Roys, qu'ils luy en
rendent. Jl semble quil est le Dieu de la Paix et de
la guerre, l'arbitre de la vie et de la mort. C'est
assez de le porter et le faire voir pour marcher en
assurance au milieu des Ennemis qui dans le fort du
Combat mettent bas les armes quand on le montre.
Ce fut pour cela que les Illinois en donnerent un au
feu Pere Marquette comme une sauuegarde parmi les
nations du Mississipi par lesquels il devoit passer
dans son voyage allant a la decouuerte de ce fleuve
et des peuples qui L'habitent.

Il y a un Calumet pour la Paix, et un pour la
guerre, qui ne sont distingues que par la Couleur
des plumages dont ils sont ornés. Le Rouge est
marque de guerre, ils s'enseruent encor pour terminer
leurs differens, pour affermir leurs alliances,

of vermilion wherewith to daub his young men, and
some other trifles, which greatly pleased him; and I
told him that I thanked him for the kindness that he
had Shown to Father de Limoges. After I had embarked,
They fired four Gunshots, to which the
people who were with me replied. At 2 Leagues
from the Village, there is a small River by which
They go in Canoes in the springtime, behind the
Hills, To the doors of their Cabins. Since I have
spoken above of the Calumet, you will be pleased
if I here tell you something about it. There is
nothing among these Indians that is more mysterious
or more reverenced. No such honors are paid to the
crowns and scepters of Kings as those that they pay
to it. It seems to be the God of Peace and of war,
the arbiter of life and of death. It suffices for one
to carry and to show it, to walk in safety in the midst
of Enemies, who in the hottest of the Fight lay
down their weapons when it is displayed. That is
why the Illinois gave one to the late Father
Marquette, as a safeguard among the tribes of the
Mississipi through whom he must pass on his
voyage, when he went to discover that river and the
nations that dwell along It.

There is one Calumet for Peace and one for war,
and they are distinguished solely by the Color of the
feathers that adorn them. Red is the sign of war.
They use it also to terminate their quarrels, to
strengthen their alliances and to speak to Strangers.
It is a sort of Pipe for smoking Tobacco, made from
a red stone polished like marble, and bored out in
such manner that one end serves for holding the
tobacco, while the other fits upon the stem. The
latter consists of a hollow stick two feet long, as

et pour parler aux Etrangers. C'est une espece de
Pippe a fumer du Tabac composée d'une pierre rouge
polie comme du marbre, et percée en sorte qu'un
bout sert à receuoir le tabac, et l'autre s'enclave
dans le manche, c'est un bâton creux, de deux pieds
de long gros comme une canne ordinaire c'est pour
cela que les françois l'ont appellé calumet par corruption
du mot Chalumeau parcequ'il lui ressemble,
ou bien a une longue flûte. Jl est embelli de la teste
ou du Col de diuers oiseaux dont le plumage est tres
beau. Ils y joignent aussi de grandes plumes
rouges, ou vertes, et dautres couleurs dont il est
tout Empannaché, Ils en font état particulierement
parcequ'ils le regardent comme le Calumet ou la
Pippe du soleil. Et defait ils le lui presentent pour
fumer quand ils veulent du Calme, de la pluye, ou
du beau temps. Ils font scrupule de se baigner au
cõmencem^t. des Chaleurs, ou de manger des fruits
nouveaux qu'apres auoir dansé le calumet, c'est a dire
le Chef le tenant en main chantant des airs auxquels
les autres repondent en dansant et fesant des gestes
compassés au son de certains Jnstruments facon de
petits Tambours.

Le 1^er. de Nouembre la pluspart des François
s'approcherent des Sacrements, et apres auoir celebré
la Feste le mieux que nous pûmes, nous continuames
n^re route et nous decouurimes la Riuiere des Akansea
a 8 lieuës du Village des Kappa. Les Sittèoüi
Akansea sont a 5 lieuës plus haut que Son Embouchure
et sont beaucoup plus nombreux que les Kappa,
et les Tourima, ce Sont les 3 villages des Akansea.
Cette Riuiere qui est au Nord du Mississipi, est tres
belle, elle se separe en 3 branches a une Lieuë du

large as an ordinary cane. Hence the french have
called it "calumet," from a corruption of the word
Chalumeau, because it resembles that instrument—or,
rather, a long flute. It is ornamented with the
heads or Necks of various birds, whose plumage is
very handsome. They also add long feathers of
red, green, or other colors with which it is entirely
Covered. They esteem it chiefly because they look
upon it as the Calumet or Pipe of the sun; and, in
fact, they offer it to the sun to smoke when they
wish to obtain a Calm, or rain, or fine weather.
They scruple to bathe at the beginning of the Hot
weather, or to eat new fruit, before they have danced
the calumet—that means that the Chief, holding it
in his hands, sings airs to which the others respond,
while dancing and making measured gestures to the
sound of certain Instruments shaped like small
Drums. [22]

On the 1st of November, nearly all the French
received the Sacraments, and, after celebrating the
Feast to the best of our ability, we continued our
voyage and discovered the River of the Akansea, 8
leagues from the Village of the Kappa. The Sittèoui
Akansea are 5 leagues above Its Mouth, and
are much more numerous than the Kappa and the
Tourima; these Are the 3 villages of the Akansea.
That River, which is to the North of the Mississipi,
is very fine; it divides into 3 branches at a League
from the Village of the Ousitteoui; it runs to the
Northwest, and, by ascending it, one reaches the
River of the Missouris, by making a portage. They
count 60 Leagues from the Kappa to the River of
the Toumika; And on the 3rd day we passed the
pointe coupée, which Is half way. We afterward

Village des Ousitteoüi, elle court au Nor oüest, et
en la montant on se va rendre dans la Riuiere des
Missouris en faisant un portage. L'on compte 60.
Lieuës des Kappa a la Riuiere des Toumika, Et le
3^e jour nous auons passé la pointe coupée, qui Fait
la moitié du chemin. nous auons êté ensuitte a
l'ancre durant 6 jours de pluye, et nous n'auons pas
fait grand Chemin le 7^e. Il s'est eleué une furieuse
brume, et la pluye nous a obligés de Cabanner sur
un coteau de plus de 40 ou 50 pieds de haut et sur
les 7 heures du Soir nous auons êté Surpris d'un
furieux coup de vent; Jl a duré plus d'une heure,
et a donné bien de l'exercice a tout le monde pour
conseruer les Canots et le bagage, et nous a menacés
a tout moments d'etre ecrasés par des arbres qui
tomboient autour de nous; a la chute du vent la
pluye a êté si violente durant deux jours que je n'ay
rien veu de pareil a linea; nos gens ont tué un Crocodile
de trois brasses de long, C'est un animal de
couleur de Crapaut fait comme un Lezar, on en
trouue Souuent à terre, et quoy qu'il marche fort
lentement, on ne s'en approche guere qu'on ne soit
bien armé, L'écaille dont il est couuert est a
l'épreuue du menu plomb, et il faut une balle pour
le percer, je ne scay comment font les sauuages qui
n'ont que des fleches, si ce n'est quelles se glissent
sous Les écailles a reuers sa gueule est fort grande et
armée de deux rangées de dents plus longues que
celles d'un Ours; à le voir et à loüir craquer des
dents il fait peur. On dit que la langue est un bon
manger, mais je n'ay pas eu encore la curiosité d'en
gouter ny de tout le reste du corps dont la pluspart
des Sauuages font un grand regal, Il en coûte de

remained at anchor during a 6 days' rain, and did not
proceed very Far. The 7th. A heavy fog came on,
and the rain compelled us to Encamp on a hill more
than 40 or 50 feet high. About 7 o'clock in the
Evening, we were Surprised by a furious squall that
lasted over an hour, and gave every one plenty of
occupation in saving the Canoes and baggage; it
threatened, at every moment, to crush us by the
trees that fell all around us. When the wind fell,
the rain was so heavy for two days that I have never
seen anything like it. Our people killed a Crocodile,
three brasses long. This is an animal of the color
of a Toad, shaped like a Lizard. It is Often found
on land, and, although it walks very slowly, no one
approaches it unless he is well armed. The scales
with which it is covered are proof against small shot,
and a ball is needed to pierce them. I know not
how the savages do so who have only arrows, unless it
be that these slip under The scales from the rear.
Its mouth is very large, and is armed with two rows
of teeth, longer than those of a Bear. To see it, and
hear it gnash its teeth, frightens one. It is said that
the tongue is good to eat, but I have never had the
curiosity to taste any of it, or any other part of the
body, which most of the Savages consider a great
treat. From time to time, some of them lose their
lives by risking themselves in diving to catch it after
it is wounded. Many of these animals are larger
than this one was.

On the 13th day, after the mass of the blessed
Stanislas, we set out; and on the following day we
reached the river of the Tounika. I left the 5 Canoes
containing the frenchmen at the mouth, which is on
the South side of the Mississipi. I embarked in my

temps en temps la vie a quelques uns de ceux qui se
hazardent a plonger pour le prendre apres quils lont
blessé il s'en voit de beaucoup plus grands que
celuy cy.

Le 13^e. jour apres la messe du bien heureux Stanislas
nous sommes partis, et le landemain nous sommes
arriuez a la riuiere des Tounika. J'ay laissé les 5
Canots des francois a l'embouchure, elle est au Sud
du Mississipi, Je me suis embarqué dans mon Canot
pour aller visiter M^r. Dauion prêtre missionnaire qui
êtoit malade, J'ay quitté mon Canot a 4 lieuës de la
Riuiere aux pieds d'un Costeau ou il y a 5 ou 6.
Cabannes, le Chemin qui est de 2 lieuës par terre
est assez beau, j'ay trouué des arbres de Piakimina
chargez de fruit, et bien des arbres de Coupal qui
rendoient de la gomme. Nous auons passé dans des
Chemins de Cannes de 40. pieds de haut et grosses
comme le bras: La tige des epis de bled que nous
apellons bled d'inde est de plus de 15 a 20 pieds de
haut aussi bien que les tournesols et gros a proportion;
Nous auons veu 5 ou 6. hameaux de peu de
Cabannes, et j'ay esté Surpris que des Sauuages qui
voient si rarement des François fussent si peu
curieux. Jl n'y a qu'au village de M^r. Davion, où
tout le monde m'a escorté jusques dans la maison de
ce fervent missionnaire, que J'ay trouué au liet auec
la fieure, Il s'est leué le lendemain pour communier
a ma messe, et a fait sa premiere sortie pour visiter
auec moy quelques Cabannes, il m'a entretenu auec
beaucoup de franchise de Sa mission qu'il commence
a establir, et Dieu benit son Zele et l'etude qu'il fait
de la langue quil commence a parler mieux qu'on ne
pourroit naturellement attendre d'une personne de

Canoe to visit Monsieur Davion, a missionary priest,
who was sick. I left my Canoe 4 leagues from the
River, at the foot of a Hill where there are 5 or 6
Cabins. The Road by land, which is 2 leagues long,
is fairly good. I found Piakimina-trees loaded with
fruit, and many Coupal-trees that yielded gum. We
passed on our Route through Canes that were 40
feet high, and as thick as one's arm. The stalks of
the corn that we call indian corn are more than 15
or 20 feet high, as are also the sunflowers, and thick
in proportion. We saw 5 or 6 hamlets, consisting of
but few Cabins; and I was Astonished that Savages
who so seldom see Frenchmen should manifest
so little curiosity—except at Monsieur Davion's
village, where all the people escorted me to the
house of that devoted missionary, whom I found ill
in bed with fever. He arose on the following day,
to receive communion at my mass, and went out, for
the first time, to visit some Cabins with me. He
spoke to me with much frankness about His mission,
which he is beginning to establish; and God blesses
his Zeal and the study that he has made of the
language, which he is beginning to speak better
than might usually be expected from a person of
His age. In his mission, 3 different languages are
spoken: the Ïakou, with 30 Cabins; the Ounspik,
with 10 or 12 Cabins; and the Toumika, who are in
7 hamlets, consisting in all of 50 or 60 small Cabins.
He devotes himself entirely to the last-named language;
and, as the Toumika are the most numerous,
the Mission bears their name. [23] They are very
docile; polygamy is rare among them; but their
caprice and the custom of the country authorize
divorce for almost nothing,—the result being that

Son âge. Jl y a 3 langues differentes dans sa mission
les Ïakou de 30 Cabannes, les Ounspik de 10 ou
12 Cabannes, et les Toumika, qui sont en 7 hameaux,
et qui font en tout 50 ou 60 petites Cabannes, Il ne
s'attache qu'a cette derniere langue, et les Toumika
comme les plus nombreux donnent le nom a la
Mission, Ils sont fort dociles, la poligamie est rare
parmy eux, mais leur caprice et la coutume du pays
authorise la repudiation presque pour rien, ce qui est
cause que le village n'est gueres peuplé. Et je n'y
ay presque pas veu d'enfans, Les filles ne sont pas
libertines ny effrontées comme elles le sont aux
Natchiés et aux Taensa, Ils reconnoissent neuf Dieux,
le soleil, le Tonnerre, le feu, le Dieu de l'orient, du
Midi, du Nord, du Couchant, du Ciel et de la Terre:
Dans chaque Cabanne Il y a un grand poteau qui la
soutient, au pied duquel il y a 2 ou 3. petits pots de
terre proche du feu dont ils tirent un peu de cendre
pour mettre dans ces pots, par Je ne Sçay quelle superstition;
C'est le poteau de lesprit ou genie; Ils sont
si secrets sur tous les mysteres de leur Religion, que
le Missionnaire n'en peut rien découurir. les femmes
ont un habit de toile de meurier quelles fillent comme
de la chanvre et du lin; c'est une toile forte et
epaisse. leur Juppon est fort propre depuis la ceinture
jusqu'au dessous des genoux il y a une frange
tres bien travaillée aussi bien que leur manteau ou
tout uni ou ouuragé en lozanges, ou en quarreaux,
ou en hermine qu'elles portent pour l'ordinaire en
blandrier, et rarement sur les 2. epaules. Les
hommes et les femmes ne se graissent ni ne s'huilent
pas les Cheueux comme tous nos sauuages du
Canada, mais peut estre est ce faute de l'une et de

the village is but little populated, and I saw hardly
any children there. The girls are not lewd or bold,
as among the Natchiés and Taensa. They acknowledge
nine Gods: the sun, Thunder, fire, the Gods of
the east, of the South, of the North, and of the West,
of the Sky, and of the Earth. In every Cabin is a
tall Post that holds it up; at the foot of this are 2 or
3 small earthen pots near the fire, from which they
take a little ashes to place in those pots, through
I Know not what superstition. That is the post of
the spirit or genie. They are so secret regarding
all the mysteries of their Religion that the Missionary
can discover nothing about them. The women
wear a gown made of a tissue from the mulberry-tree,
which they spin like hemp and flax. It is a strong
and thick cloth. Their Skirt is very decent, extending
from the waist to below the knees; it has a fringe
that is very neatly worked,—as is also their mantle,
which is either quite plain, or worked in lozenges,
or in squares, or in ermine; they usually wear it over
one shoulder, and seldom over both. The men and
women do not grease or oil their Hair, as do our
savages of Canada, but perhaps both are mistaken.
The meat of bears, of Deer, and of all kinds of
animals is very scarce in their villages. The women
wear their Hair in a heavy plait on their backs, reaching
to below the waist; they also make a crown of it
around Their heads, which are flat, like those of the
men. The mothers are careful to compress the
heads of their children, while in the cradle, to make
them flat. Most of the men wear their hair long,
and their only covering is a scanty Deerskin. They,
as well as the women, sometimes wear cloaks made
of Turkey feathers or of Muskrat skins, well woven

l'autre. La viande d'ours et de Chevreüil y étant
fort rare dans leurs villages; aussi bien que de toute
autre beste. Les femmes ont une grande tresse de
Cheveux sur le dos qui leur pend jusqu'au dessous
de la ceinture, elles s'en font aussi une couronne
autour de La teste; elles l'ont platte aussi bien que
les hommes, C'est dez le berceau que les meres ont
le soin de mettre en presse la teste de leurs enfans
pour la rendre platte. La pluspart des hommes ont
les cheveux longs, et n'ont pour tout habit qu'une
méchante peau de Cheureüil, Ils ont aussi quelquefois
aussi bien que les femmes des manteaux de
plumes de poules d'Inde ou de peaux de Rats musquez
bien tissus et bien travaillez. les hommes font
icy ce que les paysans Font en france. Ils cultiuent
et bechent la terre, font les semences, et la recolte,
font le bois, et l'apportent a la cabanne, passent les
peaux de Cheureüil et de beuf quand ils en ont, et les
apprestent les mieux de tous les Sauvages que j'aye
veus; Les femmes ne font que le dedans du ménage,
les pots de terre, et leurs habits. Leurs Cabanes sont
rondes et en voute: elles sont lattées de Cannes et
reuétües de Bousillage depuis le bas jusques au
haut, au dedans et au dehors avec une bonne couverture
de paille, Il n'y a pas de jour que par la porte,
et si peu qu'il y ait de feu, dont la Fumée ne Sort
que par la porte, Il y fait chaud comme dans une
étuve. La Nuit une torche de Cannes séches allumée
leur sert de Flambeau, et tient toute la Cabanne
chaude, leur lit est de Cannes rondes, elevé sur 4
poteaux de 3 pieds de haut, et une natte de Cannes
leur sert de Mattelas. rien de plus propre que
leurs Cabannes, on ny voit ny hardes, ny sacs, ny

and well worked. The men here Do what peasants
do in france: they till and hoe the soil; they sow and
harvest; they cut wood, and bring it to the cabin;
they dress the skins of Deer and of oxen, when they
have any. They dress them better than do any other
Savages whom I have seen. The women do only
household work, and make the earthen vessels
and their clothes. Their Cabins are round and
arched; they are lathed with Canes, and plastered
with Mud from the bottom to the top, both inside
and out, and have a good roof of straw. There is no
opening but the door; and however little fire there
may be,—the Smoke therefrom Issues only by the
door,—It is as hot in them as in a vapor bath. At
Night, a lighted torch made of dried Canes serves
them as a Light, and keeps all the Cabin warm.
Their beds are made of round Canes raised on 4 posts
3 feet high; and a Reed mat serves as a Mattress.
Nothing can be cleaner than their Cabins. One
never sees in them either clothes, or bags, or
Kettles, or hatchets, or guns; They carry everything
with them, and their sole wealth consists of
fairly well-made earthen vessels—especially small
varnished jars, as pretty as any that can be seen in
france. [24] Their granaries are near their Cabins;
they are made like Dove-cotes, built on four large
posts 15 or 16 feet high. These are very smooth
and well polished, so that the mice may not climb
them; and thus they protect Their corn and
Squashes—which are even better than those of the
Ilinois—against those vermin. There are no
peaches in this village, as among the Akansea; but
there are such quantities of piakimina that whole
families go together to the woods to gather it, As

Chaudieres, ny haches, ny fusils, Ils portent tout
avec eux, et n'ont pour toutes richesses que des pots
de terre assez bien faits; sur tout de petites cruches
vernies aussi propres qu'on en puisse voir en france,
leurs greniers sont proche de leurs Cabannes faits en
Colombier bâti sur quatre gros poteaux de 15 ou 16
pieds de haut bien unis et bien lisses, affin que les
souris n'y puissent pas grimper; et c'est ainsi qu'ils
en garentissent Leurs bleds et leurs Citroüilles qui
sont encore meilleures que celles des Ilinois. Il n'y a
pas dans ce village là des pesches cõme aux Akansea:
mais il y a une si grande quantité de piakimina,
qu'ils vont dans les bois en familles en faire la recolte,
Comme les Ilinois vont en familles a la Chasse du
beuf sauvage qui est tres rare en ce pays cy ou ils
vivent de ce fruit dans le bois durant un mois, outre
qu'ils enpilent et font seicher une grande quantité
quils conseruent Longtemps, Jls n'ont qu'un petit
temple eleué sur une butte de terre, Ils n'y entrent
ma dit M^r. Davion que quand ils vont a la guerre,
ou qu'ils en reviennent, et ne font point tous les
hurlemens des Taensa et des Natchés quand ils
passent deuant leurs temples, ou il y a toujours un
vieillard qui y entretient du feu. M^r. de S^t. Cosme
ayant apris que M^r. Davion etoit a l'extremité, est
arrivé a la mission de Natchés, avant mon depart ils
m'ont confirmé l'un et l'autre le Naufrage du Pere
de Limoges qui de tout ce qu'il auoit n'a sauué que
son Calice et son Crucifix; Jls luy ont donné tout ce
quil luy falloit pour aller jusqu'au fort de Mississipi
tres edifiez de la joye et de la fermeté qu'il leur a
fait paroitre dans la perte assez considerable qu'il a
faite de tous ses meubles de Mission, benissant Dieu

among the Ilinois whole families go together to Hunt
the wild ox, which is seldom seen in this country.
There they live for a month in the woods on that
fruit, besides pounding and drying great quantities
of it, which they keep for a Long time. They have
only a small temple erected on a mound of earth;
they enter it, so Monsieur Davion told me, only
when going to war or returning thence; and do not
utter all the yells of the Taensa and Natchés when
they pass in front of their temple, in which an old
man always keeps fire burning. Monsieur de St.
Cosme, who had heard that Monsieur Davion was
dying, arrived from the Natchés mission. Before
my departure, they both confirmed the news of the
Wreck of Father de Limoges—who, out of all that
he possessed, saved only his Chalice and his Crucifix.
They gave him all that he needed to enable
him to reach fort Mississipi, and were greatly edified
by the joy and fortitude that he manifested in
the great loss that he had suffered of all the outfit
of his Mission,—praising God, They told me, for
having thus deprived him of all he possessed. Monsieur
de St. Cosme informed me that the Natchés
were far from being as docile as the Tounika. They
are polygamous, thievish, and Very depraved—the
girls and women being even more so than the men
and boys, among whom a great reformation must be
effected before anything can be expected from them.
The customs of the Taensas, who speak the same
language, are the same. Their village is 20 leagues
from the River of the Toumika; It is 4 leagues
inland. After Traveling a league, one reaches a lake
where there are always a great many Crocodiles. It
must be crossed in a Canoe to reach the village,

m'ont Ils dit, de ce qu'il l'avoit ainsy detaché de tout
ce qu'il auoit; Il s'en faut beaucoup au reste m a dit
M^r. de S^t. Cosme, que les Natchés soient aussi dociles
que les Tounika, Ils sont poligames, voleurs, et
Fort vicieux, les filles et les femmes plus que les
hommes, et les garçons parmy lesquels Il y a bien a
reformer auant que d'en esperer quelque chose; les
Taensas, qui ont la même langue, ont aussi les
memes mœurs, leur village est a 20. lieuës de la
Riuiere des Toumika, Il est a 4 lieuës dans les terres,
apres une lieuë de Chemin l'on tombe Sur un lac, ou
il y a toujours quantité de Crocodiles, Il le faut
trauerser en Canot pour aller au village qui est plus
ramassé que celuy des Tounika. L'année passée le
temple ayant êté reduit en cendres par le tonnerre,
qui tomba sur une matiere aussi combustibles que le
sont les Cannes dont il etoit couuert, Le vieillard
qui en etoit le Gardien, dit que l'esprit etoit faché
qu'on n'eut fait mourir personne a la mort du dernier
Chef, et qu'il falloit l'appaiser; 5 femmes eurent la
Cruauté de jetter leurs Enfans dans le feu a la veuë
des françois qui me l'ont raconté au plûtost les donnerent
au Vieillard qui les jetta dans le feu en faisant
ses Invocations, et en chantant auec ces femmes
durant cette cruelle ceremonie, et Sans les François
il y eut encore eu bien des Enfans bruslés. la Cabane
du Chef ayant ete conuertie en temple on y porta en
triomphe les 5 meres denaturées comme 5 heroïnes.
A la pointe du detour ou est le village, la Riuiere n'a
gueres qu'un arpent et demi de large, et fait un
detroit, ou l'on a bien de la peine a refouler le courant,
et c'est la ou M^r. de la salle dit qu'il y a un
gouffre ou les arbres se precipitent la racine en haut

which is more closely built than that of the Tounika. [25]
Last year the temple was reduced to ashes,
by the lightning falling on such combustible materials
as the Canes with which it was covered. The
old man who was its Guardian said that the spirit
was angry, because no one had been killed in it at the
death of the last Chief, and that he must be appeased.
There were 5 women Cruel enough to throw their
Children into the fire, in full view of the french
who related this to me,—or, rather, they gave them
to the Old man, who cast them into the fire. He
did so while uttering Invocations, and singing with
the women during the barbarous ceremony; and,
had it not been for the French, many more Children
would have been burned. The Chief's Cabin was
turned into a temple, and the 5 unnatural mothers
were carried there in triumph, as if they were 5
heroines. At the point of the bend where the village
stands, the River is barely an arpent and a half in
width, and forms a strait, where the current is
difficult to ascend. It is at that place that Monsieur
de la salle says there is a whirlpool, into which the
trees are precipitated roots upward, and reappear
only half a league lower down. This I did not see;
perhaps it happened only when he passed there, or
occurs only occasionally.

After enduring heavy showers during the night,
which would have deluged our baggage had I slept
as soundly as did our Canoemen, we had very fine
weather while proceeding to the Natchés, who are
South of the Taensas, from whom they are distant
20 leagues. After ascending a low hill, we came
upon a well-traveled highway leading to a rather
steep hill, which is more than half covered during

et ne vont sortir qu'a plus d'une demie lieuë plus
bas, ce que je nai pas appercu, peut estre que cela
n'arriva que lorsquil y passa, on ne s'y voit que de
temps en temps.

Apres auoir essuyé de grandes pluyes, qui durant
la nuit auroient inondé tout n^re bagage, si J'eusse
dormy aussi profondement que nos Canoteurs, nous
auons assez beau temps pour arriuer aux Natchés au
Sud des Taensas, dont ils sont eloignez de 20 lieuës,
Apres auoir monté une petite coste on trouue un
grand chemin battu qui conduit a un grand coteau
assez escarpé, les grandes Eaux en couurent plus de
la moitié. au haut de ce coteau, on decouure une
belle prairie, le Chemin le plus battu conduit au
Village ou est le temple; les autres qui coupent a
droit et a gauche, vont a differens hameaux. Il ny a
que 4 cabanes dans celuy ou est le temple, il est fort
Spacieux et couuert de cannes nattées quils renouvellent
tous les ans auec de grandes ceremonies,
qu'il seroit trop long de marquer icy. Elles commencent
par un jeûne de quatre jours auec des
vomitoires jusqu'au Sang, Il n'y a ny fenestre, ni
Cheminée dans ce temple, et ce n'est qu'a la lueur
du feu qu'on y voit un peu, encore faut-il que la
porte, qui est fort basse et Fort étroite soit ouuerte.
Je m'imagine que l'obscurité du lieu leur inspire du
respect. Le vieillard qui en est le gardien, y entretient
tousjours le feu, et se donne bien de garde de
le laisser éteindre. Il est au milieu du temple deuant
un espece de Mauzolée à la maniere des Sauuages,
Jl y en a 3. de 8. ou 9 pieds de long, d'enuiron 6
pieds de large, et de 9 ou 10 pieds de haut, Ils sont
soutenus sur 4. gros poteaux reuestus de nattes de

the high Waters. At the top of this hill is a fine
prairie; the Road most used leads to the Village
where the temple is; others, which intersect it right
and left, lead to various hamlets. There are only 4
cabins in the one where the temple is; it is very
Spacious and covered with plaited canes, which are
renewed every year with great ceremonies, which it
would take too long to relate here. They begin by
a fast that lasts four days, accompanied by vomiting
until Blood comes. There are neither windows nor
Chimney in the temple and one can see only a little
by the light of the fire; and even then the door,
which is very low and Very narrow, must be open.
I imagine that the obscurity of the place inspires
them with respect. The old man who is the guardian
keeps the fire lighted all the time, and takes very
good care not to let it go out. It is in the middle of
the temple, in front of a sort of Mausoleum in the
Savage fashion. There are 3, which are 8 or 9 feet
long, about 6 feet wide, and 9 or 10 feet high. They
are supported by 4 large posts, covered with Cane
mats in quite neat Columns, And surmounted by a
ceiling of Canes interlaced. This would be very
graceful, were it not all darkened by smoke and covered
with Soot. There is a large Mat that Serves
as a curtain to hide a large table, covered with 5 or 6
Cane Mats, on which stands a great Basket; it is not
permitted to open this, because the Spirit of Each
nation in this quarter reposes, it is said, with that of
the Natchez. I am annoyed with myself for not
having opened the Basket, although I would have
pained the Old man by drawing back the curtain and
trying to touch that Basket. There are others in the 2
other mausoleums, in which, they say, are the bones

Cannes en Colomnes assez propres, Et surmontez d'un
platfond de Cannes nattées, cela auroit assez bonne
grace, si tout n'etoit pas noircy de fumée et couuert
de Suye. Il y a une grande Natte qui Sert de rideau
pour couurir une grande table couuerte de 5 ou 6
Nattes de Cannes sur lesquelles il y a une grande
Corbeille qu'il n'est pas permis d'ouurir parceque
l'Esprit de Chaque nation de ces quartiers repose dit
on auec celuy des Natchez. Je me sçay mauuais gré
de n'auoir pas ouuert la Corbeille, quoy que j'eusse
fait de la peine au Vieillard d'ouurir le rideau et de
vouloir toucher a cette Corbeille. Il y en a d'autres
dans les 2 autres mauzolées, ou ils disent que sont les
ossements de leurs Chefs quils reuerent comme des
diuinitez. Tout ce que je vis de plus rare, Cest un
petit morceau de Cristal de roche que j'ay trouué dans
une petite Corbeille. J'ay veu quantité de petits
pots, plats, tasses de Terre et de petits paniers de
Cannes bien faits. C'est pour seruir a manger aux
esprits des Chefs morts, et le gardien du temple y
trouue son Compte, apres auoir visité tout ce qui est
dans le temple, je n'ay vû ni la, ni ailleurs, ni l'or,
ni l'argent, ni Les pierreries, ni les Richesses ny les
neuf brasses de perles fines qu'on fait remarquer a
l'autheur d'une relation imprimée sous le nom de M^r.
de Tonty et quil a de[s]avouée a celui [M^r. Iberuille],
qui luy reprochoit toutes les menteries dont elle est
remplie; cest aussi une fable que ce que L'écrivain
ose dire auoir esté vû par M^r. de Tonty dans une
petite armoire enchassée dans la muraille reuestue de
bousillage, ou je n'ay vû ny goutté aucune des
liqueurs exquises dont il parle. ce sont toutes
Choses controuuées par le même autheur pour

of their Chiefs, whom they revere as divinities.
The rarest object that I saw there is a small piece
of rock Crystal, which I found in a small Basket. I
observed many small Earthen pots, dishes, and cups,
and some small well-made Cane baskets. In these
food is served to the spirits of the dead Chiefs, and
the guardian of the temple finds it to his Advantage.
After inspecting everything in the temple, I saw,
either there or elsewhere, neither the gold, nor the
silver, nor The precious stones, nor the Riches, nor
the nine brasses of fine pearls mentioned by the
author of a relation, printed under the name of Monsieur
de Tonty, but which he disavowed to him [Monsieur
Iberville] who reproached him with all the falsehoods
with which it is filled. [26] What The writer dares
to mention as having been seen by Monsieur de Tonty,
in a small cupboard imbedded in the wall and plastered
with mud, is also a fable; and I neither saw
nor tasted there the exquisite liquors of which he
speaks. These are all Things that have been invented
by the same author, in order to embellish his
story. It is true that the Chief's wife has some small
pearls; but they are neither round nor well pierced,—with
the exception of 7 or 8, which are as large as
small peas, and have been bought for more than they
are worth. After a careful search, there were found
none of the riches or rarities that have been reported to
exist in the Temple and in the village. The frenchman
whom Monsieur D'Iberville left there to learn
the language told me that, at the death of the last
Chief, they had killed two women, 3 men, and 3
Children; They strangled them with a Bowstring;
and that cruel ceremony is performed with great
pomp, for the wretched victims Consider themselves

embellir son histoire. Il est vray que la femme du
Chef, a quelques petites perles, qui ne sont ny rondes,
ni bien percées: mais 7 ou 8 prés qui sont grosses
comme de petits poix qu'on a achetées plus cheres
quelles ne vallent; apres les auoir bien cherchées, Il
ny a rien des richesses ni des raretéz qu'on a voulu
faire croire se trouuer dans le Temple et dans le
village. Le françois que M^r. D'Iberuille y a laissé
pour apprendre la langue m'a dit qu'a la mort du
dernier Chef on a fait mourir deux femmes, 3
hommes et 3 Enfans; Ils les etranglerent auec la
Corde d'un arc, et cette cruelle ceremonie se fait
auec grand appareil; ces malheureuses victimes, se
Croyans fort honorées d'accompagner leur Chef par
une morte violente; pour le grand Chef qui mourut
quelques mois auparauant, Il ny en eu[t] que 7, Sa
femme mieux auisée que les autres ne voulut pas le
Suiure, et se mit a pleurer quand on voulut l'obliger
d'accompagner son Mary. M^r. de Montigni qui a
quitté ce païs pour aller a Siam estant auerty de ce
qu'ils auoient coutume de faire leur fit promettre de
ne faire mourir personne, ils luy donnerent pour
garantie de leur parole une petite esclaue qu'ils
auoient resolu de faire mourir, sans la defense qu'il
leur en fit: mais pour garder leur maudite coutume
sans qu'il s'en appercût la femme Chef qu'ils appellent
Oüachil Tamail, Soleil femme (qui est toujours
la sœur, et non la femme du grand Chef) luy persuada
de Se retirer dans un Village esloigné pour n'auoir
pas la teste rompue du bruit qu'on feroit dans une
Ceremonie ou tout le monde se deuoit trouuer, M^r.
de Montigni ne se doutant de rien la Crut et se retira,
mais en son absence Ils firent mourir ceux quils

highly honored in accompanying their Chief by

means of a violent death. For the great Chief who
died some months previously, There were but 7.
His wife, who was more cautious than the others,
would not Follow him; and began to weep when they
wished to make her accompany her Husband. When
Monsieur de Montigni, who has left this country to
go to Siam, was informed of their custom, he made
them promise to put no more people to death. They
gave him, as a pledge of their word, a little slave
girl, whom they had resolved to kill, had he not forbidden
it. But, in order to keep their cursed custom
without his noticing it, the woman Chief, whom
they call Ouachil Tamail, "the Sun woman" (who
is always the sister and not the wife of the great
Chief), persuaded him to withdraw to a distant Village
so that his head might not be broken by the noise
that would be made at a Ceremony whereat all the
people would be present. Monsieur de Montigni,
who suspected nothing, Believed her and withdrew;
but, in his absence, They put to death those whom
they considered necessary to act as Cooks for the
Chief, and to Serve him in The other world. However,
the Old men alone enter the temple to yell, as
I have seen them do after kindling the fire. All the
men who pass in front of the temple lay down their
Burdens, stretch their arms toward the temple, and
utter loud yells; and, if they have little Children,
They hold them in their arms and, turning toward
the temple They make them touch the earth 3 times
with their foreheads. They utter the same yells
when they pass before the Chief or the woman Chief,
or speak to them, or offer them food, drink, or
tobacco. This woman Chief is very intelligent, and

crurent necessaires pour aller faire la Cuisine du
Chef et pour le Seruir en L'autre monde; au reste Il
n'y a que les Vieillards qui entrent dans le temple
pour faire leurs hurlemens tels que je les ay vû faire,
apres auoir attisé le feu. Tous les hommes qui
passent devant le temple mettent bas leur Charge,
et êtendent les bras du costé du temple auec de
grands hurlem^ts., et s'ils ont de petits Enfans, Ils les
prennent entre leurs bras et se tournant du côté du
temple, Ils leur font toucher 3 fois la terre auec le
front, Ils font les mêmes hurlemens quand ils
passent devant le Chef, ou la femme Chef, ou quils
leur parlent, ou qu'ils leur presentent a boire ou à
manger ou à fumer, Cette femme Chef a beaucoup
d'esprit, et a plus de Credit quon ne pense; son frere
n'est pas un grand genie, il s'est remarié 9 fois sans
qu'aucune Femme ayt pu rester auec luy, elles l'ont
toutes quitté et a p^nt il vit seul a son particulier. Les
Femmes sont toutes vetues fort proprement et bien
couuertes. Jusqu'a mi Jambe, auec un manteau qui
descend jusqu'au dessous du genoüil, la pluspart ont
les dents noires, et c'est une beauté parmi elles;
C'est en mâchant du Charbon de tabac, auec de la
cendre, dont elles les frottent tous les matins qu'elles
les noircissent. Le bled n'etoit pas encore cueilly la
1^ere. recolte se fait en ces quartiers dans le mois de
Juin, et la 2^de. qui est la plus abondante, ne se fait
qu'a la fin de Novemb. outre qu'ils offrent au temple
les premices de leurs fruits dans ce Village la, la
femme Chef faisoit faire la recolte du bled pour le
temple, et personne n'ose refuser ce que ses émissaires
veulent prendre[**punctuation?] C'est pour le Chef, et pour
la femme Chef et pour donner a manger aux esprits

enjoys greater Influence than one thinks. Her
brother is not a great genius; he has been married 9
times, without a single Woman being able to live
with him; they have all left him, and now he lives
quite alone. The Women are all very neatly clad,
and are decently covered To the middle of their
Legs, with a cloak that descends below the knees.
Most of them have black teeth, which is considered
beautiful among them; they blacken them by chewing
the Ashes of tobacco mixed with wood ashes, and
rubbing them with these every morning. The corn
was not yet gathered in. The 1st harvest in this
quarter is in the month of June; and the 2nd, which
is more abundant, is only at the end of November.
Besides the fact that they offer the first-fruits of
their crop to the temple in that Village, the woman
Chief had the corn gathered in for the temple, and
no one dares to refuse what her emissaries wish to
take. That harvest is gathered for the Chief and
the woman Chief, and to supply food for the spirits
of the departed Chiefs; but all the people take part
in the feast that is given them during 6 days. This
is accompanied with the usual yells, the Shouts, and
the Ceremonies that they will not explain to the
Missionaries, to whom, for all answer, They say,
noukou—which means, "I Know not why it is done."
Everything depends upon the Commission of the
Chiefs, who have too much Interest in passing among
their people for Spirits to embrace Christian humility
very soon.

We left that village of the Natchez on the 24th and
the 25th of November. We discovered the Hills of
the houmas to the South of the Mississipi, which
forms a bay that one enters by leaving the main

des Chefs morts que se fait cette recolte, mais tout le
monde est du festin qu'on leur fait durant 6 jours
auec les hurlem^ts. les Cris et les Ceremonies ord^res.
quils ne veulent pas expliquer au Miss^re. a qui pour
toute reponse, Ils disent noukou c'est a dire je ne
Scay pas pourquoy cela se fait. tout depend de la
Commission des Chefs qui ont trop d'Interest de
passer pour des Esprits parmy leurs gens pour
embrasser si tost l'humilité Chretieñe.

Nous sommes partis de ce village des Natchez le
24^e. et le 25^e. Novembre. Nous auons decouuert les
Cotteaux des houmas au Sud de Mississipi, qui fait
une baye, ou l'on entre, laissant sur la droite, le
grand Canal, Il y a une bonne lieuë et demie du
debarquement au Village des houmas, par un assez
mauuais Chemin a toujours monter et descendre et a
marcher a demi courbé dans les Cannes. Le village
est sur la creste d'une montagne roide et escarpée de
tous costez. Il y a 80 Cabannes, et au milieu du
Village une belle place fort unie, ou depuis le matin
jusqu'au soir il y a de jeunes gens qui s'exercent a
courir apres une pierre platte qu'ils jettent en l'air
d'un bout de la place a l'autre, et quils taschent de
Faire tomber Sur deux Cilindres, quils font rouler
ou ils croyent que la pierre doit tomber.

Le temple n'a rien de beau que le Vestibule, qui
est orné des plus agreables grotesques et des mieux
faites qu'on puisse gueres voir. Ce Sont quatre
Satyres dont deux sont en bosse sortans tous quatre
de la muraille qui ont à la teste aux mains et aux
pieds en bandeaux, en bracelets, en Jartieres en bandouliere
et en ceintures des serpens, des souris et des
Chiens, les couleurs en sont noires, blanches, rouges

Channel to the right. There is a good league and
a half from the point of disembarkation to the Village
of the houmas,—over a very bad Road, for one has
to ascend and descend, and walk half bent, through
the Canes. The village is on the crest of a steep
mountain, precipitous on all sides. There are 80
Cabins in it, and in the middle of the Village is a
fine and very level open space, where, from morning
to night, young men exercise themselves. They run
after a flat stone, which they throw in the air from
one end of the square to the other, and try to Make
it fall On two Cylinders, which they roll wherever
they think the stone will fall.

There is nothing fine about the temple except the
Vestibule, which is embellished with the most pleasing
and best executed grotesque figures that one can
see. These Are four Satyrs, two of which are in
relief,—all four standing out from the wall, and
having on their heads, their hands, and their legs,—for
fillets, bracelets, Garters, baldrics, and belts,—snakes,
mice, and Dogs. The colors are black,
white, red, and Yellow; and are applied so well, and
with such absence of confusion, that they constitute
an agreeably surprising spectacle. The Old man
who keeps up the fire—the name of which, he told
us, was Louak ouloughé—the "sacred fire"—showed
us the bones of the woman Chief who died last year.
That woman had so distinguished herself by the
blows that she inflicted upon their enemies, having
in person led several war-parties, that she was looked
upon as an Amazon, and as the mistress of the whole
village. Greater honor was paid to her than to the
great Chief; for she occupied the 1st place in all the
Councils, and, when she walked about, was always

et Jaunes, et si bien appliquées et sans confusion,
que c'est un spectacle qui surprend agreablement,
Le Vieillard qui y entretient le feu quil nous nomma
Loüak ouloüghé feu sacré, nous fit voir les ossements
de la fameuse femme Chef qui mourut l'année
passée. Cette femme s'étoit rendue si considerable
par les coups qu'elle auoit fait sur les ennemis, ayant
conduit elle même plusieurs partis de guerre, qu'on
la regardoit cõme une Amazone et cõe la maitresse
de tout le village, a qui on rendoit plus d'honneur
qu'au grand Chef, tenant la 1^ere. place dans tous les
Conseils, et quand elle marchoit elle etoit toûjours
precedée de quattre jeunes hommes qui luy chantoient
et dansoient le Calumet, elle etoit habillée en
Amazonne, se peignoit le visage et auoit le Cheuelure
Faite cõme les hommes. On ne fait dans ce
village rien de tous les hurlem^ts. ordinaires aux
Natchés lors quils passent devant le temple, vis a vis
duquel il y a une Chapelle de 50 pieds de long que
le Pere du Ru y fit bâtir le printemps passé auec une
grande Croix de 35 ou 40 pieds du haut quil a fait
arborer dans la place du village; Le Pere de Limoges
y etoit arriué depuis trois jours pour s'y etablir et
pour trauailler a la Conuersion des houmas, qui me
paroissent fort dociles. Le Grand Chef est fort
raisonnable et dit qu'il ne reconnoist qu'un esprit qui
a tout fait. J'ay compté 70 Cabannes dans le village
que j'ay visité auec le Pere de Limoges qui ma voulu
donner les premices de sa mission par le baptême
que j'ay fait d'un Enfant de 3 jours a qui j'ay donné
le nom de S^t. François Xauier Patron de la mission,
a qui Dieu a ouuert le paradis peu de jours apres
pour y trauailler a la Conuersion de ses parens et de
ses Compatriottes.

preceded by four young men, who sang and danced
the Calumet to her. She was dressed as an Amazon;
she painted her face and Wore her Hair like the men.
In this village they know nothing of all the yells
that are usually uttered among the Natchés when
they pass before the temple—opposite which is a
Chapel 50 feet long that Father du Ru caused to be
built last spring; also a great Cross 35 or 40 feet
high, that he caused to be erected in the public place
of the village. Father de Limoges had arrived there
three days before, in order to settle there and to
labor for the Conversion of the houmas, who seemed
to me to be very docile. The Great Chief is very
reasonable, and says that he acknowledges but one
spirit who has made all. I counted 70 Cabins in the
village, which I visited with Father de Limoges,
who chose to give me the first-fruits of his mission
in the baptism that I administered to a Child 3 days
old. I gave him the name of St. Francis Xavier,
the Patron of the mission; God took him to paradise
a few days afterward, there to labor for the Conversion
of his parents and of his Countrymen.

On the 3rd of december, we celebrated the Festival
of that great Saint as solemnly as we could; and I
Chanted the first high mass that was ever heard in
the village. I was Surprised at the little Curiosity
that they manifested. If the Mississipi country be
settled, and this mission be not taken from us, There
is reason to hope that we shall do well here, on
account of the docility of those poor people. The
women and girls are more modest than Among the
neighboring Tribes. May God be pleased to convert
them, and make the road to Their village Impracticable
for certain French libertines. All that they do

Le 3^e. decembre nous auons celebré la Feste de ce
grand Saint le plus solemnellement que nous auons
pu, et J'ay Chanté la premiere grande messe qu'on
ait entendu dans le village, J'ay esté Surpris de leur
peu de Curiosité: Si le Mississipi s'etablit, et que
cette mission ne nous soit pas otée, Il y a sujet d'esperer
de la docilité de ces pauures gens, qu'on y fera
du bien, les femmes et les filles y ont plus de pudeur
que Chez les Nations voisines. Dieu veille les conuertir,
et rendre le chemin de Leur village Impratiquable
a certains François libertins, tout ce quils
font a leurs malades, C'est de les succer Jusqu'au
Sang, J'en ay veu un entre les mains des vieillards
Jongleurs, dont l'un sifflo[i]t et joüoit de la gourde un
autre le succoit, et l'autre chantoit la Chanson du
Crocodile dont la peau luy seruoit de tambour.
Comme ils se Contentent de leurs Citroüilles et de
leur bled quils ont en abondance, Ils sont faineants
et ne vont gueres a la Chasse, Ils ne laissent pas
d'auoir la reputation d'estre gueriers et destre crains
des nations voisines. Ils ne sont pas cruels, et bien
loin de faire mourir aucun des esclaues quils font,
dés quils entrent dans le village, les femmes pleurent
sur Eux les plaignans d'auoir esté pris, et les traittent
ensuite mieux que leurs enfans; quand quelques
uns de leurs gens vont a la Chasse, les femmes se
mettent a pleurer comme si elles les alloient perdre,
Et quand ils reuiennent de la Chasse Elles pleurent
de joye de les reuoir, Il y a peu de Villages en
france ou il y ait plus de poules et de Cocqs que dans
celuy des houmas, aussi n'en tüent ils jamais et ne
veulent pas meme manger de celles que leurs Chiens
tuent assez souvent. quand on veut auoir des poulets

for their sick is to suck them Until Blood comes. I
saw one in the hands of the old Medicine-men; one
whistled and played on a gourd; another sucked;
while the third sang the Song of the Crocodile,
whose skin served him as a drum. As they are
Satisfied with their Squashes and their corn, of which
they have an abundance, They are indolent, and
hardly ever Hunt. They have nevertheless the
reputation of being warriors, and are feared by the
neighboring tribes. They are not cruel; and, far
from putting to death any slaves whom they may
capture, as soon as the latter enter the village the
women weep over Them, pity them for having been
taken, and afterward treat them better than their
own children. When any of their people go out
Hunting, the women begin to weep, as if they were
about to lose them; And, when they return from
Hunting, They weep with joy at seeing them once
more. There are few Villages in france where there
are more hens and Cocks than in that of the houmas,
because they never kill any, and will not even eat
any of those that their Dogs quite often kill. When
one wishes to obtain chickens from them, He must
not say that he intends to kill or eat them. They
would give them with reluctance; but they willingly
sell these fowls when they are not killed in their
presence, or when they are told that they will be
taken away to be reared as with them. The hens
have little chickens at all times, And in the month of
december there were some in all the Cabins, since
they keep Warm in the Cabins,—which the people
are Careful to keep clean, and which they sweep out
2 or 3 times a day. [27] The Children, the men, and
the young men are dressed like the Tounika. The

d'eux, Il ne faut pas dire qu'on les veut tuer ou
manger, Ils auroient de la peine a les donner, mais
ils les vendent volontiers quand on ne les tue pas en
leur presence ou qu'on leur dit qu'on les emporte
pour les éleuer comme eux. les poules y ont des
petits poulets en tout temps, Et dans le mois de
decembre il y en auoit dans toutes les Cabannes,
aussi sont elles Chaudem^t. dans leurs Cabannes quils
ont Soin de tenir propres, et quils balient 2 ou 3 fois
le jour; les Enfans les hommes et les jeunes gens
sont habillez comme les Tounika les femmes portent
un habit frangé, qui les couure depuis la Ceinture
jusqu'au dessous des genoux. Quand elles sortent
de leur Cabanne elles se couurent d'une Robe de
Rats musquez ou de plumes de Cocqs d'Inde. Elles
ont le visage picqué et figuré, et les cheueux tressez
cōme les Tounika, Et les Natches et se noircissent
les dents comme Elles; Quoique tous les sauuages
craignent extremement le froid, a la moindre gelée
(car il ny a pas d'hyuer) Ils se vont baigner grands
et petits, et sortent de l'eau transis de froid, C'est
un Vieillard qui Fait le Cri au point du jour quand
il gele. Ces sortes de bains leurs causent quelquefois
le Flux de Sang qui en emporte plusieurs. Au reste
Le Pere de Limoges commence a Se Faire entendre,
et fera du bien dans cette mission. Il m'a raconté
son naufrage, ou il a tout perdu, et la perte est plus
considerable qu'on ne peut croire, plus d'une Mission
s'en ressentira, ce fut en se laissant deriuer la nuit
au Courant que leur Canot hurta Contre un arbre
qui êtoit arresté dans le milieu du Courant qui luy fit
Faire la pirouette, et demeura sur le Costé plein
d'eau, et s'il ne se fut arresté promptement a larbre,

women wear a fringed skirt, which covers them from
the Waist to below the knees. When they go out of
their Cabins they wear a Robe of Muskrat skins, or
of Turkey's feathers. Their faces are tattooed with
figures, and they wear their hair plaited like the
Tounika And Natches, and blacken their teeth as
Those tribes do. Although all savages have a great
dread of cold, when there is the slightest frost (for
there is no winter here) They all bathe, both great
and small, and come out of the water quite chilled
with cold. An Old man Calls out at daybreak when
it freezes. This kind of bath sometimes brings on a
Bloody Flux, which carries off many of them. However,
Father de Limoges is beginning to Make
Himself understood, and will do good in this mission.
He related to me his wreck, in which he lost everything;
and the loss is greater than can be believed—more
than one Mission will suffer by it. While
allowing themselves to drift at night with the
Current, their Canoe struck a tree which had stuck
in the middle of the Stream. This Upset the canoe,
and it remained on its Side full of water; and, had
he not promptly caught hold of the tree, He would
have been drowned while half asleep. He lost
everything except his Chalice, which he saved by
pulling it, I know not how, from Its box. That was
all that he could save, and it is almost a miracle that
he was able to Save himself, after struggling for his
life for nearly three hours, by means of a branch of
a tree swept down by the current, to which he
fastened himself with his 2 canoemen. He allowed
Himself to drift with the Current, which at last
carried the tree to land; and, after drying themselves
without a fire in the wind and Sun, as well as they

Il se seroit noyé a demi endormie. Il a tout perdu
hors son Calice quil sauva le tirant je ne sçay comment
de Sa cassette c'est tout ce qu'il put conseruer,
et c'est un espece de miracle qu'il ait pû se Sauuer
luy même, apres auoir disputé sa vie presque trois
heures au moyen d'une branche d'arbre que le courant
emportoit et a laquelle il s'estoit attaché auec
ses 2 matelots, Jl S'est laissé aller au Courant, qui
la enfin poussé a terre et apres s'estre seiché sans feu
au vent et au Soleil du mieux quils ont pû, Ils ont
fait un Cajeu de 3 ou 4 pieds de bois flottant quils
ont liez auec des harres, et ont naviguéz trois jours
entiers Sur ce nouueau Canot, toujours entre deux
eaux Sans manger autre chose durant ce temps la
qu'un peu de pourpié Sauuage tout crû. ce Cher
Mission^re. m'a dit la qu'il s'estoit lors souuenu auec
fruit de S^t. François Xauier disputant sa vie autant
de jours avec les Eaux sur un bout de planche, Il
decouvrit le 4^e. Jour le feu de quelques Akansea qui
etoient a la chasse. Il en fut receu et ses deux
compagnons fort humainem^t. ils leur donnerent a
manger et les conduisirent jusqu'a Leur village, ou
le Pere trouua Son Canot qui s'estoit arresté a des
Embarras de bois, il a depuis esté equippé de tout ce
qui est necessaire pour sa mission des houmas. D'ou
je partis le 4^e. Decemb. et apres 3 Lieuës de Navigation
nous trouuasmes au Nord de Mississipi la Riuiere
rouge dont on parle tant; Si la 3^me. tentative que les
françois y font depuis 7 ou 8 mois reussit, les Missionnaires
y auront un passage pour aller a diverses
nations qui bordent cette riuiere qui court au Suëst:
elles ne sont presque toutes qu'en petits hameaux
Comme les Natchés, ce qui fait dire a ceux qui

could, They made a Raft out of 3 or 4 pieces of
driftwood, which they lashed together with withes.
They traveled for three whole days On this new Canoe,
always half submerged, and Without eating anything
during all that time except some Wild purslane, quite
raw. That Dear Missionary told me that he then
remembered to good purpose St. Francis Xavier,
who had struggled for his life in the Waters for as
many days, upon a piece of plank. On the 4th Day,
he observed the fire of some Akansea who were
hunting. He and his two companions were very
humanely treated by them. They gave them food,
and took them to Their village, where the Father
found His Canoe, which had been stopped by a
Barrier of driftwood. He has since been equipped
with everything necessary for his mission among
the houmas. I started from there on the 4th of
December, and, after 3 Leagues of Navigation, we
found on the North side of the Mississipi the red
River, about which so much is said. If the 3rd
attempt which the french have made there within 7
or 8 months be successful, the Missionaries will have
there a passage by which to reach the various nations
along that river, which flows in a Southeasterly
direction. They nearly all live only in small hamlets,
Like the Natchés, which makes persons who
wish to convey a great Idea of all Those Tribes say
that there are villages without end, and of 3 or 4, 5
or 6 leagues in extent—trying to make hamlets of 3
or 4 Cabins, separated from one another according
to the convenience of the land, pass for so many
villages of the same tribe. Monsieur de Bienville,
who has penetrated the farthest of all, has told me
that the whole country is flooded in the months of

veulent donner de grandes Jdées de toutes Ces Nations
quil y a des villages sans fin, et de 3. ou 4. 5. ou 6.
lieuës d'étendue voulant faire passer des hameaux de
3. ou 4. Cabannes esloignez les uns des autres pour
la commodité du terrain pour autant de villages de
la meme nation, M^r. de Bienville qui y a penetré le
plus auant, m'a dit que tout etoit inondé dans le
mois de mars et d'auril, qu'il y auoit de petites
hauteurs chez les Natchitoch assez peuplés ou le
bled luy venoit a lepaule à la fin de mars M^r. de S^t.
Denis doit aller Jusqu'aux Kadodakio, et au lieu
d'aller du costé des Senis, ou Les Assassins de M^r.
de la Salle s'estoient retirez, Il a dû prendre Sur la
gauche, et pousser jusqu'aux Kioüahau les plus eloignez
que lon scache, ou lon espere trouuer des mines.
Il doit estre icy de retour a la fin de ce mois, et s'il
ne trouue pas des mines d'argent, on n'a rien moins
que ce que l'on Cherche dans l'etablissement de
Mississipi qui inonde toutes les terres a plus de 80
lieuës de Son Embouchure a quelques petits Cantons
prés.

Le 10^e nous auons dit la messe de S^t. françois
Xauier pour commencer la deuotion de dix vendredis.
le Lendemain nous sommes arriués a la Croix
qui marque le village des Baïougoula au Nord du
Mississipi, et a 40 Lieuës des houmas. Comme les
Eaux ont esté extraordinairement hautes cette année,
elles ont miné le Coteau, de plus de 10. pieds de
long, d'ou la Croix est tombée auec Les terres qui se
sont eboulées; Je ne Suis pas allé jusqu'au village,
et ce n'est qu'a mon retour de Bilocchi que j'ay visité
les Baiougoula dont le Chef a fait massacrer Celuy
des Mougoulacha auec plus de 200 hommes de cette

march and april; that there were small eminences
among the Natchitoch that were quite populous, and
that corn grew thereon to the height of one's shoulder.
At the end of march, Monsieur de St. Denis
is to go as Far as the Kadodakio; and instead of
going toward the Senis, whither The Assassins of
Monsieur de la Salle had fled, He is to go To the
left, and push on as far as the Kiouahau, the most
remote tribe that we know of, where it is hoped that
mines will be found. He is to return here at the
end of this month; and, if he finds no silver mines,
they have nothing less than what they Seek in the
settlement of the Mississipi—which floods all the
lands to a distance of more than 80 leagues from Its
Mouth, with the exception of a few small Districts. [28]

On the 10th, we said the mass of St. francis Xavier,
to commence the devotion of the ten fridays. On
the following Day, we arrived at the Cross that
marks the village of the Baiougoula, on the North
side of the Mississipi, and 40 Leagues from the houmas.
As the Waters have been extraordinarily high
this year, they have undermined the Hill for a length
of over 10 feet, so that the Cross has fallen with The
soil that has crumbled away. I Did not go to the
village, and it was only on my return from Bilocchi
that I visited the Baiougoula. Their Chief caused
the Chief of the Mougoulacha to be massacred, with
more than 200 men of that tribe, who were very well
disposed toward the French, and who lived in the
same Village with the Baigougoula as the Piouaroua
do with the Kaskaskia. The blood of so many Innocents
cries for vengeance; consequently God is beginning
to punish them by famine and disease and they
must fear that the houmas and the Kolapessas will

nation, qui etoit fort porté pour les François et qui
faisoient Village auec les Baigougoula comme font
les Pioüaroüa auec les Kaskakia. Le sang de tant
d'Innocens crie vengeance, aussi Dieu commence-til
a les punir par la famine et la maladie, et ils doiuent
craindre que les houmas et les Kolapessas ne vengent
le meurtre de tous leurs alliez; Je n'ay rien veu de
Sigueux. Je Scay quelques mots de leur langue:
mais comme plus de deux tiers étoient absens du
village, d'ou la faim les auoit chassez, je n'y ay resté
que 4. jours. Ils m'ont promis de rétablir la
Chapelle, et de faire tout ce que J'ay demandé: mais
si le Chef n'est bien loin de là Jl n'y a pas grande
Chose a faire pour un missionnaire: j'ay fait planter
une grande croix sur la Coste a la place de celle que
les Eaux ont emportée, elles ont crû de vingt pieds
de haut. A 5 lieuës plus bas que le village on trouve
au Nord un petit bras du Mississipi dont parle M^r.
de la Salle; quil dit auoir plus de 30 brasses d'eau
et est fort commode pour les grands vaisseaux; mais
M^r. D'Iberville qui la fait visiter et Sonder, n'y a pas
trouué d'eau pour une Chalouppe, plus nous approchons
du bas du Mississipi, plus nous allons a l'est,
et à l'est Suest, nous trouuons aussi plus de Courants
et de mechants Cabannages, et dans les Aunages
toujours de la terre glaise; ou bien Il nous Faut
entrer bien auant dans le bois ou est il difficile de
penetrer et de n'y pas trouuer d'Embarras de Cannes,
d'ou l'on ne peut se tirer. Depuis les Natches nous
n'auons vecu que de bled d'Inde auec quelques
Citroüilles, Car il y a longtemps qu'on ne voit en
ces quartiers ny bœuf ny Cheureüil ni ours; et si l'on
a trouué quelques outardes ou oyes sauuages elles

avenge the murder of all their allies. I have never
seen anything So beggarly. [29] I Know a few words
of their language: but, as more than two-thirds of
them were away from the village, whence hunger
had driven them, I remained there only 4 days.
They promised me to restore the Chapel, and to do
everything that I asked from them; but, unless the
Chief is very far away, There is not much for a
missionary to do. I had a cross erected on the Hill,
to replace that which had been carried away by the
Waters, which rose to a height of twenty feet. At
5 leagues below the village, we find on the North
side a small arm of the Mississipi, which Monsieur
de la Salle mentions; he says that it has a depth of
over 30 brasses of water, and is very convenient for
large vessels. But Monsieur D'Iberville—who had
the same inspected, and who caused Soundings to be
taken—did not find water deep enough to float a
Shallop. The more we approach the lower end of
the Mississipi, the more we go to the east and to the
east-Southeast. We also find more Currents and
worse Camping-places, and always clayey ground in
the Alder-bushes; or else we Have to go very far
into the woods, into which it is difficult to penetrate
without meeting Dense Canebrakes, whence one
cannot extricate oneself. Since we have left the
Natches, we have lived only on Indian corn with a
few Squashes—For it is a long time since either
wild oxen, Deer, or bears have been seen in this
quarter; and, if we have found a few bustards or
wild geese, they have been so lean that they were
as tasteless as wood. This has caused our Canoemen
very often to sigh for the River of the Ilinois, And
the beauty of the country and of the landing-places;

etoient si maigres, qu'elles n'avoient pas plus de
goust que du bois, ce qui a fait soupirer bien des fois
tous nos Canoteurs aprés la Riuiere des Ilinois, Et
pour la beauté du pays et des debarquements, et de la
quantité de bœufs et de Cheureuils et de toute Sorte
de Gibiers gras et excellens. C'est une navigation
bien longue que celle du Mississipi bien ennuyante,
et bien difficile surtout a remonter et bien incommode
a cause des cousins et autres mouches appellées
Maringoüins, brulots, Et moustiques, et des grandes
pluyes, les Chaleurs excessives, les mechants
debarquemens dans la bouë et dans la terre glaise,
Souuent jusqu'a mi Jambe et pour la mechante chere,
si l'on ne part auec un Canot a demi chargé de
viures, on doit s'attendre a bien jeûner, et j'ay de la
peine a croire que nos sauuages d'en haut et du Païs
des Illinois viennent chercher icy des marchandises
de si loin auec tant de peine et tant de risque: La
Pirogue des Baïougoulas que nous auons rencontrée
ne faisoit pas plus de 3 ou 4 lieuës par jour. Ils
etoient mal vêtus pour la Saison, Car ils n'avoient
qu'une demie peau de Cheureüil pour se garentir du
froid encore y auoit il une vieille qui etoit si miserable
quelle n'auoit qu'un peu de mousse pour se
Couurir: plusieurs vieilles gens parmi tous ces sauuages
n'ont pas d'autre habit. Je Suis enfin arriué
le 17^e. decemb. au fort de Mississipi. apres 68 Jours
de navigation, en descendant ce premier etablissement
est au Sud de ce fleuue a 18 lieuës de Son
embouchure, Il ny a ni fort ny bastion, ny retranchemens
ni redoutes tout consiste en une batterie de 6
pieces de Canon, de 6 et de 8 dressée sur le bord de
la Coste, et en 5 ou 6 Cabannes separées les unes des

and for the numbers of wild oxen and Deer, and all
Kinds of fat and excellent Game. The navigation
of the Mississipi is very slow and tedious, and very
difficult—especially in ascending it. It is also very
troublesome on account of the gnats and other
insects called Mosquitoes, midges, And black flies;
the heavy rains; the excessive Heat; the wretched
landing-places,—where one must wade in mud and
clay, Often half-way up one's Legs,—and the bad food.
Unless one set out with a Canoe half full of provisions,
he must expect to fast long; and I find it difficult
to believe that our savages up above and in the
Illinois Country come here to seek for merchandise
from so great a distance, with so many difficulties
and so many risks. The Pirogue of the Baiougoulas
that we met traveled no more than 3 or 4 leagues a
day. They were badly clad for the Season, For they
had only half a Deerskin to protect them against the
cold. There was even an old woman so destitute that
she had only a little moss wherewith to Cover herself.
Many old people among these savages have no
other clothing. At last, on the 17th of december, I
reached fort Mississipi, after 68 Days of navigation in
descending the river. This first post is on the South
side of the river, 18 leagues from Its mouth; There
is neither fort, nor bastion, nor intrenchments, nor
redouts,—it consists of only a battery of 6 pieces
of Cannon, and of 6 or 8 placed on the edge of the
Hill; and of 5 or 6 Cabins detached from one another
and roofed with palm-leaves. The Commandant,
Monsieur de Bienville, has there a small and very
neat house. I observed, on arriving, that the men
were commencing to suffer from hunger, and that
flour was beginning to fail. This compelled me to

autres couuertes de lataniers: le Commandant M^r. de
Bienville y a une petite maison assez propre; Je me
suis apperçu en arriuant qu'on commençoit a crier a
la faim, et que les farines commencoient a manquer,
ce qui m'a obligé pour n'estre pas a charge a
personne de me mettre aux viures Sauuages, et de
me contenter de bled d'Inde sans viande ny poisson,
Jusqu'a l'arriuée des vaisseaux qu'on nattend gueres
qu'a la fin de mars; si lon etablit le Mississipi l'on
transportera le fort, ou plutost on le faira aux Baïougoulas
a 40 lieuës plus haut: car les grandes Eaux
debordent si furieusem^t. icy quils ont esté 4 mois
dans l'eau, et souuent jusqu'a mi Jambe hors de
leurs Cabannes quoique les sauuages les eussent
asseurez que ce lieu n'inondoit jamais. le bled qu'on
auoit semé icy êtoit deja assez haut quand l'inondãon
qui se fit d'un furieux coup de mer dans le mois
d'Aoust l'emporta. le Jardinage na gueres mieux
reussi, outre qu'il y a une grande quantité de serpents
noirs qui mangent les laictües et les autres legumes
jusqu'a la racine. Pour ce qui est du Fort de Bilocchi
a 30 lieuës d'icy, outre que l'air y est meilleur,
le païs plus decouuert, l'on y fait toute sorte de
Jardinages, Le Cheureüil en est tout proche et il y a
tres bonne chasse; et pour y temperer la Chaleur
qui y seroit excessive, tous les jours une heure ou
deux auant midy, il vient un vent de la mer qu'ils
appellent la brise qui rafraichit l'air, Il n'y a que
l'eau qui n'y est pas fort bonne, C'est une petite
source qui la leur fournit; car celle de la Baye est
plus que Sommatre et n'est pas potable. Cette Baye
qui donne le nom au fort, prend le Sien des Sauuages
Bilocchis, qui en Sont les plus proches, et S'appelle

live on the same food as do the Savages, so as not to
be a burden upon any one; and to content myself
with Indian corn, without meat or fish, Until the
arrival of the ships, which are not expected here
before the end of march. If the Mississipi country
be settled, the fort will be transported to—or,
rather, will be erected among—the Baiougoulas, 40
leagues higher up; for the high Waters flood the
place—to such an extent that the men spent 4
months in the water; and frequently had to wade
mid-Leg deep in it outside of their Cabins, although
the savages had assured them that this spot was
never inundated. The wheat that had been sown
was already quite high, when the inundation caused
by a heavy sea, in the month of August, carried it
away. The Garden did not succeed any better;
and, besides, there are great numbers of black
snakes that eat the lettuce and other vegetables down
to the roots. As to the Fort of Bilocchi, 30 leagues
from here, not only is the air purer, but the country
is more open, and all kinds of Garden produce can
be grown. Deer abound in the immediate vicinity,
and there is very good hunting; and—to temper the
Heat, which would otherwise be excessive—every
day, an hour or two before noon, a wind blows from
the sea which is called "the breeze," and it cools
the air. Only the water is not good there. It is
supplied by a small spring, for the water in the Bay
is more than Brackish, and is not drinkable. This
Bay, which gives the fort its name, takes its Own
from the Bilocchi Savages, who Are nearest to it,
and is called The Bay of Bilocchi. There are over
120 men in this fort, which is regularly built; it is
armed with 12 pieces of Cannon, and as many swivel-*

La Baye de Bilocchi. Il y a plus de 120 hommes
dans ce fort bien auec 12 pieces de Canon, et autant
de pierriers braqués sur les bastions; Il n'y a que les
Chalouppes, et le trauersier qui ne porte pas 100
tonneaux qui puissent entrer dans cette Baye, les
vaisseaux les peuuent approcher que de 5 lieuës et
demeurent a la rade deuant une Isle, ou il y a bon
moüillage, et qui s'appelle l'Isle des vaisseaux; Il
n'y a point de ports dans tout ce pays que celuy des
Pansacolas, dont les Espagnols se sont emparez, et
ou ils ne S'estoient etablis que 3 semaines auant que
M^r. D'Iberuille fut arriué a la Coste. Le Fort de
Bilocchi, n'est eloigné que de 30. Lieuës de celuy
des Espagnols; l'entreprise du Gouuerneur luy
reussit mal l'année passée. s'estant auancé auec
deux nauires, il fut surpris de trouuer 4 gros vaisseaux
a la rade, et une forte garnison au Fort. Il
dit par galanterie a nos Officiers qu'il visitoit la coste
pour en Chasser les Anglois. Mons^r. d'Iberuille qui
visitoit le Mississipi auoit auerti de se menager auec
les Espagnols et de bien receuoir le Gouuerneur s'il
venoit a son bord, selon l'ordre qu'il en auoit luy
même de la Cour; Il fut regalé magnifiquement,
viue le Roy de france, viue le Roy d'Espagne, viue
M^r. d'Iberuille auec quantité de volées de Canon, et
en partant il laissa une lettre pour M^r. d'Iberuille
C'estoit ses oppos^ns. dont il scauoit bien qu'on se
mocqueroit, a peine eût il quitté nos vaisseaux, quil
fut pris en pleine mer d'un coup de Vent qui fit ouurir
et perdre son vaisseau. Il se sauua dans une Chaloupe
auec peu de gens et reuint a nos vaisseaux.
Nos Officiers faisant paroître auoir plus de déplaisir
qu'ils n'en auoient, le receurent parfaitement

guns, mounted on the bastions. Only Shallops and
the lighter, which carries less than 100 tons, can enter
the Bay. Ships cannot approach nearer than 5
leagues; and they remain in the roadstead, in front
of an Island where there is good anchorage, and
which is called Isle des vaisseaux [ship Island]. There
are no ports in the whole of that country except that
of Pansacolas, which the Spaniards have seized—and
where they had not been settled for more than
3 weeks before Monsieur D'Iberville arrived on the
Coast. The Fort of Bilocchi is distant only 30
Leagues from that of the Spaniards. [30] The Governor's
expedition met only with ill success last year.
Having advanced with two vessels, he was surprised
to find 4 large ships in the roadstead, and a strong
garrison in the Fort. Through politeness, he told
the Officers that he was visiting the coast to Drive
the English away. Monsieur d'Iberville, who was
visiting the Mississipi country, had warned his
officers to be careful in their conduct toward the
Spaniards, and to receive the Governor well if he
came on board his ship,—in accordance with the
order which he himself had received to that effect
from the Court. He was given a magnificent reception;
shouts of Vive le Roy de france! Vive le Roy
d'Espagne! Vive Monsieur d'Iberville! were uttered,
while many salvos were fired from the Cannons; and
on his departure he left a letter for Monsieur d'Iberville.
It contained his objections, which he knew
very well would be laughed at. Hardly had he
quitted our ships when he was struck by a Squall in
the open sea, which caused his ship to spring a leak
and founder. He saved himself in a Shallop, with
a few of his people, and returned to our ships. Our

bien, l'equiperent genereusement de tout, et le
firent reconduire dans une double Chaloupe auec
toutes les rames, et Chapeaux bas, jusqu'a son fort
des Pansacolas, a son depart il fut encore salué d'une
decharge de toute n^re. Artillerie; Il a esté fait grand
Maitre de l'Artillerie d'Espagne, et son Major a esté
fait gouuerneur qui a enuoyé une Chaloupe au fort
de Bilocchi a M^r. de Sauuol pour reclamer 10 hommes
par le major nouueau, pretendant quils auoient
deserté: mais dans le Fond ce n'etoit que pour
visiter le Fort qui ne les craint pas, et pour venir
chercher de la toile et des hardes; Car ils manquent
de tout. Ils ont achepté tout ce quils ont trouué, et
ont dit quil reuiendroient quand ils Scauroient que
nos vaisseaux Seront arriuez, quoi que l'on soit dêja
court de viures du moins de farine francoise, Car le
Lard, les Poix, et les féues n'y manquent pas encore.
Le Gouuerneur a fait cacher le bled d'Inde, et a fait
paroître du pain François dans tout le Fort, il a parfaittem^t
regalé le major, volailles, Cochon de lait et
Cheureüil, vin de Madere, l'equipage a eté regalé a
proportion, et a donné au Major toute sorte de rafraichissemens
pour son retour, et a fait present au
nouueau Gouuerneur d'un Fusil de grand prix. Au
reste pour aller d'icy au fort de Bilocchi, Il faut faire
en partant un portage d'un bon demi quart de lieuë
dans la vase et dans l'eau Jusqu'aux genoux, et faire
prouion[**?] d'eau autant quil en faut pour aller jusqu'a
Bilocchi, car la petite riuiere que l'on trouue a un
quart de lieuë d'icy est sommatre c'est a dire qu'elle
est meslée d'eau de mer, elle se decharge dans un
lac de 2. Lieuës de trauerse et apres auoir couru 5 ou
6 lieuës au Suest, sur la mer le long des Isles on

Officers, who manifested more regret than they felt,
received him very well; they generously supplied
him with everything, and had him taken back in a
double Shallop—with all oars, and with Hats off—to
his fort of Pansacolas. On his departure he was
again saluted with a discharge of all our Artillery.
He has been made grand Master of the Artillery of
Spain; and his Major, who has been made governor,
sent a Shallop to the fort of Bilocchi to Monsieur de
Sauvol [31] to claim through the new major 10 men,
pretending that they had deserted. But, in Reality,
it was only an excuse to visit the Fort,—which fears
them not,—and for the purpose of procuring linen
and clothing Because they lack everything. They
purchased all that they could get, and said that they
would return as soon as they should Learn that our
ships Had arrived. Although we are already short
of provisions,—at least, of french flour; For of Pork,
Peas, and beans there is yet no lack,—the Governor
caused the Indian corn to be concealed, and displayed
French bread all over the Fort. He regaled
the major elaborately, with poultry, sucking Pig,
Venison, and Madeira wine; the crew were regaled
in proportion; and he gave the Major all sorts of
provisions for his return, and made the new Governor
a present of a valuable Gun. However, to go from
here to the fort of Bilocchi, It is necessary, at the
start, to cross a portage of a good eighth of a league,
in mud and water Up to one's knees. One must
also take a sufficient supply of water to last until
Bilocchi is reached, for the little river a quarter of a
league from here is brackish—that is, it is mixed
with sea water; it discharges into a lake 2 Leagues
wide. Then, after running 5 or 6 leagues to the

coupe au nord est au large des Isles jusqu'a 7 lieuës
du fort, qu'on gagne la terre ferme que l'on suit
jusqu'a l'entrée de la Baye de Bilocchi a la veüe du
fort ou il faut trauerser. J'y suis arriué le d^er. Jour
de l'année 1700 ou j'ay esté bien receu du Gouuerneur;
J'y ay trouué Le pere du Ru, outre les fonctions
de mission^re. Il fait encore celles d'Aumonier
d'une maniere tres édifiante, et vous ne pouuies pas
mieux Choisir, Mon R. P. pour procurer un excellent
Mission^re. au Mississipi qui a tout ce quil faut pour
bien commencer et pour former les nouuelles missions
qu'on y veut etablir, Il a beaucoup de facilité
pour les langues; Je n'ay resté que 8 jours. J'ay
esté onze jours a me rendre icy par la faute de n^re
guide qui a perdu sa route, et qui nous a fait manquer
un vent fauorable, qui nous eust rendu au fort
le 3^e. jour. mais apres auoir consommé n^re demie
barrique d'eau, nous l'auons remplie d'Eau soumatre,
qui a Fait plus de peine a mes Canoteurs qu'a
moy qui me Suis accoutumé a ne guere boire en
voyage, nous auons tous fait mechante Chere; Car
nous auons esté reduits au seul bled d'Inde durant
4. jours, et il etoit aussi dur apres auoir bouilly toute
la nuit dans cette Eau Sommatre que quand on le
mettoit dans la Chaudière. Nous allions d'Isle en
Jsle, sur la mer du golfe mexique, et plus nous nauigions,
plus nous nous eloignions de nôtre route dans
cette extremité n'ayant presque plus d'Eau soumatre,
nous nous recommandasmes a Dieu, et Je promis
de faire une neufuaine a lhonneur de S^t. francois
Xauier et de dire la messe en actions de graces dés
que je Serois arriué au Fort. le lendemain nous
nous rembarquames dans notre canot et a une heure

Southeast, on the sea, along the Islands, we cross to
the northeast, outside the Islands, to 7 leagues from
the fort; there the mainland is reached, and is followed
to the entrance of the Bay of Bilocchi in sight
of the fort, to reach which we must cross the bay. I
arrived there on the last Day of the year 1700, and was
well received by the Governor. I found father
du Ru there. Besides the duties of missionary, he
also performs those of Chaplain in a very edifying
manner. You cannot, My Reverend Father, possibly
make a happier Choice of a Missionary for the Mississipi
country, because he has all the qualifications
requisite for solidly founding and increasing the
new missions that are to be established there. He
has a great aptitude for learning languages. I
remained only 8 days with him; and it took me
eleven days to get here, through the fault of our
guide, who lost his way and made us lose a favorable
wind, which would have taken us back to the fort on
the 3rd day. But after consuming our half cask of
water, we filled it with brackish Water; this Gave
more trouble to my Canoemen than to me, for I Have
accustomed myself to drink but little while traveling.
We all Fared badly, For we were reduced to Indian
corn alone during 4 days; and, after it had been boiled
all night in that Brackish Water, it was as hard as
when it was put into the Kettle. We sailed on the
mexican sea or gulf from Island to Island, and the
farther we sailed the more we deviated from our
route. In this extremity, when we had hardly
any brackish Water left, we commended ourselves
to God. I promised to make a novena in honor of
St. francis Xavier, and to say mass in thanksgiving,
as soon as I arrived at the Fort. On the following

apres midy nous nous trouuames à la pointe a leri que
nous auions doublée depuis 4 jours dou nous auons
Coupé aux Isles de large, nous auons fait deux
grandes trauerses de 5 lieuës au Sud Suest; et a la
veuë des bois du Mississipi nous sommes enfin grâces
a Dieu entrés dans une riuiere ou nous auons etanché
n^re soif et qui nous a conduits a demi quart de
lieuë du Mississipi ou nous sommes heureusem^t.
arriuez et apres un demi quart de lieuë de portage
nous nous sommes trouuez a 8. petites lieuës du fort
ou nous sommes arriuez l'onzième jour de nôtre
depart de Bilocchi; sans la protection de S^t. françois
Xauier je crois que nous eussions encore longtemps
rodé sans Eau, je suis party le landemain pour
aller aux Baiougoulas qui sont 40 lieuës plus haut;
je n'y ay fait qu'une partie de ce que je voulois y
ayant trouué peu de monde, Dieu ma fait la grace
d'y baptiser un petit enfant de 2 ans moribond a qui
j'ay ouuert le Ciel. Je suis de retour dans ce fort
depuis 4 jours L'arriuée des vaisseaux qu'on attend
de jour en jour me determinera sur ce que je dois
faire, si j'attendray l'arriuée de M^r. d'Iberuille, ou
si je remonteray aux Ilinois par les premiers Canots.
Au reste il n'y a pas de vaisseau qui puisse entrer
dans la riuiere de Mississipi, s'il tire plus de 9. ou
10. pieds d'eau; Car il n'y en a qu'onze a l'Embouchure:
L'Entrée passée Il n'y a pas de Vaisseau qui
ne puisse nauiguer fort auant dans cette Riuiere. Il
y a icy 15 a 16 brasses d'Eau, la pluspart des flutes
qui n'en tirent que 9 pourroient y entrer bien auant,
Car le bâtiment Anglois que M^r. d'Iberuille trouua
L'année passée a 8 lieuës d'icy tiroit encore moins
d'eau; le Capitaine auoit pour se conduire la

day, we reëmbarked in our canoe; and at one o'clock
in the afternoon we found ourselves at point a leri
which we had doubled 4 days before, whence we
Crossed over to the Islands outside. We made two
long crossings of 5 leagues to the South-Southeast,
and came in sight of the Mississipi woods. Finally,
thanks be to God, we entered a river where we
quenched our thirst. This stream took us to within
an eighth of a league of the Mississipi, where we
arrived safely; and, after a portage of an eighth of a
league, we found ourselves 8 short leagues from the
fort, which we reached on the eleventh day after our
departure from Bilocchi. Had it not been for the
protection of St. francis Xavier, I think that we
would have wandered a good while longer without
Water. I left on the following day to go to the
Baiougoulas, 40 leagues higher up. I accomplished
there only a portion of what I wished to do, for I
found very few people there. God granted me the
grace of baptizing a little child 2 years old, who was
dying, and to whom I opened the gate of Heaven.
I came back to this fort 4 days ago. The arrival of
the ships, which are expected from day to day, will
enable me to decide what I shall do; whether to
await the arrival of Monsieur d'Iberville, or to return
to the Ilinois by the first Canoes. However, no ship
can enter the Mississipi river if she draws more than
9 or 10 feet of water, For there are only eleven at
its Mouth. The Entrance once passed, There is not
a Ship that cannot sail a long distance up the River.
There are from 15 to 16 brasses of Water here; most
of the store-ships, which draw only 9 feet, could go
far up, For the English ship that Monsieur d'Iberville
found last year 8 leagues from here drew still

Relation de M^r. de la Salle et de quelques autres fort
mauuais memoires qui font mention de L'embouchure
de ce fleuue. Cet Anglois qui en parloit a M^r. de
Bienville s'applaudissoit de ce quil auoit pû trouuer
l'entrée du Mississipi dont un de ceux qui en ont
ecrit est un apostat qui a presenté au Roy Guillaume
la Relation du Mississipi, ou il ne fut jamais, et apres
mille mensonges et de ridicules vanteries, Il prétend
faire voir les justes pretentions et le droit incontestable
que le Roy Guillaume a sur le Mississipi &c.

Il fait paroître dans Sa Relation M^r. de la Salle
blessé de deux balles dans la teste, qui se tourne
vers le Pere Anastase Recollet pour luy demander
l'absolution, (ce qu'il n'eut pas asseurement le temps
de faire) ayant ête tué tout roide sans dire un seul
mot et autres semblables faux narrés. Je ne scay
ce que la Cour decidera du Mississipi si l'on ne trouue
les mines d'argent: Car elle ne cherche pas de terres
a cultiuer, Il y en a peu a plus de 80 lieuës d'icy qui
ne soient inondées par le grand debordement du
Mississipi, on n'a pas encore les mines que l'on cherchoit.
on ne se soucie gueres de celles de plomb
qui sont tres abondantes vers Les Ilinois et plus haut
dans le Mississipi du costé des Scioux. Il y a à la
verité bien des ames a gagner a J. C. le long du
Mississipi et encore plus dans les terres et dans la
Riuiere rouge; mais il y a plus de monde dans la
seulle mission des Jlinois, que je n'en ay vû chez les
Tounika, Baiougoula, et houmas, et qu'il n'y en a
Chez les Bilocchi, Chez les Colapessas et Chez tous les
sauuages de la Riuiere la mobile qui Sont entre le
Fort de Bilocchi et celuy des Espagnols, et des Pansacolas.
Cela n'empesche pas que les Missionnaires

less water. The Captain had for his guidance Monsieur
de la Salle's Relation, and some other very
incorrect memoirs that mention The mouth of the
river. That Englishman, who was talking about it to
Monsieur de Bienville, congratulated himself upon
having found the entrance to the Mississipi. One of
those who have written of it is an apostate, who presented
to King William the Relation of the Mississipi,
whither he never went; and, after a thousand
falsehoods and ridiculous boasts, He pretends to
establish the first claims and the incontestable right
of King William to the Mississipi, etc. [32]

He depicts in His Relation Monsieur de la Salle
wounded, with two balls in his head, turning to
Father Anastase, a Recollet, to ask for absolution,—(which
he certainly could not have had time to do,)
for he was killed outright, without saying a word,—and
other similar false statements. I know not
what the Court will decide with reference to the
Mississipi, if no silver mines be found there; For they
seek not lands to cultivate. There are but few
districts, to a distance of 80 leagues from here, that
are not flooded by the great overflow of the
Mississipi. The mines that have been sought for
have not yet been found; but little heed is paid to
the lead mines, which are very plentiful toward
The Ilinois country, and higher up the Mississipi
toward the Scioux. There are, in truth, many
souls to be won to Jesus Christ along the Mississipi,
and still more inland and along the red River.
But there are more people in the Ilinois mission
alone than I have seen among the Tounika, the
Baiougoula and the houmas; and more than there
are Among the Bilocchi, the Colapessas, and all the
savages of the River mobile, who Are between

ne trouuent bien de quoy s'occuper dans chaque
village dont les Sauuages me paroissent fort dociles
plaise au Seigneur de leur enuoyer des gens dont Le
zele Leur ouure Le Ciel et leur en apprenne Le
Chemin. l'on dit qu'en remontant la Riuiere des
mobiliens, il se trouue de nombreuses nations, ou je
n'ai pas esté. Quand M^r. de la Salle vint par mer
chercher l'embouchure du Mississipi il passa outre
sans s'en apperceuoir qu'a plus de 15 lieuës au de la,
et ne voulant pas faire paroître qu'il s'etoit trompé,
Il poussa plus loin Jusqu'a 80 lieuës d'icy, ou il fit un
fort, et dans le dessein de se rendre en triomphe aux
Ilinois il s'en alla de son fort aux Senis Sauuages
dans les Terres, et c'est de leur village que M^r.
Cavelier prestre partit apres la tragique mort de Son
Frere pour se rendre au trauers des terres aux
Akansea et de la en Pirogue jusqu'aux Ilinois. et
enfin a Kebec ou il s'embarqua pour reuenir en france
luy 5^e. Les Espagnols se rendirent peu de temps
apres les maîtres du fort de M^r. de la Salle dans
lequel plus de 150 personnes moururent de misere
et de maladies les Espagnols enleuerent le reste des
françois qu'ils y trouuerent et vinrent ensuite aux
Senis ou ils laisserent 20 hommes avec 3. Cordeliers,
et d'où ils emmenerent deux françois quils y trouuerent,
et qui sont a pñt au fort de Bilocchi, c'est de
ces deux François qu'on a scû ce que sont devenus
les tristes restes de ce grand equippem^t. de M^r. de
la Salle qui auoit 400 hõmes en partant de S^t.
Domingue pour chercher l'embouchure du Mississipi.
Ce fut aux senis que les meurtriers de M^r. de la salle
se firent sauuages cõe eux, apres que quelques uns
se furent entretués. Voila au juste mon R. P. le

Fort Bilocchi and that of the Spaniards and the Pansacolas.
This does not prevent the Missionaries
from finding plenty of occupation in each village,
wherein the Savages seem to me very docile. May
the Lord be pleased to send them persons whose zeal
will open Heaven to Them, and teach them The
Road to it. It is said that there are numerous tribes
up the River of the mobilians, where I have not
been. When Monsieur de la Salle came by sea to
look for the mouth of the Mississipi, he went past
without noticing it, until he had sailed 15 leagues
beyond it; and, being unwilling to show that he had
been mistaken, He pushed on To a place 80 leagues
from here, where he built a fort. Then, with the
design of proceeding in triumph to the Ilinois
country, he went from his fort to the Senis, Savages
who dwell Inland; and it was from their village that
Monsieur Cavelier, the priest, set forth, after His
Brother's tragic death, to go across the country to
the Akansea, thence in a pirogue to the Ilinois, and
finally to Kebec—where he, with 4 others, embarked
to return to france. The Spaniards shortly afterward
made themselves masters of the fort of Monsieur
de la Salle, in which more than 150 persons
died of hardships and disease. The Spaniards took
away the remainder of the french whom they found
there, and afterward came to the Senis country,
where they left 20 men with 3 Cordeliers; from that
place also they took away two frenchmen whom they
found there, who are now at fort Bilocchi. It is
from those two Frenchmen that our people learned
what had become of the sorry remnants of that great
expedition of Monsieur de la Salle—who had 400
men with him when he left St. Domingo to seek for
the mouth of the Mississipi. Among the senis the

detail de mon voyage et de tout ce que j'ay pû
apprendre dans ma route et par tout ce que j'ay vû et
remarqué, et par tout ce que J'ay apris icy du Commandant
M^r. de Bienville, frere de M^r. d'Iberuille
qui a le plus decouuert de pays. j'ajoute que cest
aux saules et non pas aux mauriers que les vers a
soye s'attachent, et font leurs coques en ce païs. On
ne pourroit pas faire le premier etablissement en un
lieu ou il y eût plus de Maringouins qu'icy; Il y en a
pendant presque toute l'année. A la verité ils nous
ont donné un peu de treues 7 ou 8 jours, mais a
lheure qu'il est Jls me picquent bien serré et dans le
mois de decembre, qu'on n'en deuroit estre importuné,
il y en auoit une si furieuse quantité, que je
ne pouuois ecrire un mot, que je n'en eusse les mains
et le visage tout couuert et qu'il m'etoit impossible
de dormir pendant la nuit, j'en ay êté si incommodé
a un œil que j'ay pensé le perdre. Les françois de
ce fort me disoient que depuis le mois de mars, il y
en a une si prodigieuse quantité que l'air en est tout
couuert et que l'on ne s'entreuoit pas a dix pas les
uns des autres, Je reste icy jusqu'a l'arriuée de M^r.
D'Jberuille cõme je m'y Suis en quelque facon
obligé, pour seruir d'aumonier aux françois qui sont
en ce poste et dont plusieurs sont Canadiens. J'ay
bien a souffrir de ces Jmportuns Cousins Jusqu'au
mois de may, et encore plus en remontant le fleuue,
puisque je ne le pourray faire que lors qu'il y en
aura une Si grande quantité, que l'on ne pourra ny
reposer de nuit ny mettre a terre de Jour pour faire
cuire du bled d'Jnde sans en estre deuoré, Dieu Soit
beni de tout, Je dois estre content de tout, quoy qu'il
m'en couste, pourueu que ce voiage de plus de mille

murderers of Monsieur de la salle became savages
like them, after some of them had killed one
another. [33] Such, my Reverend Father, are the
precise details of my voyage, of all that I was able to
learn on the way, and of all that I have seen and
noticed and heard here from the Commandant, Monsieur
de Bienville, brother of Monsieur d'Iberville,
who has explored most of this country. I may add
that it is to the willows, and not to the mulberry-trees,
that the silkworms attach themselves when
they spin their cocoons in this country. No settlement
could be established in a place where there are
more Mosquitoes than here. There are some nearly
all the year round. To be sure, they gave us a short
truce of 7 or 8 days; but at this very moment They
are stinging me badly. Even in the month of december,
when one should not be troubled with them,
there was so great a number of them that I
could not write a word; my hands and face were
covered with them, and I was unable to sleep at
night. One eye was so badly stung by them that I
almost lost it. The french at this fort told me that,
after the month of march, these insects came in so
prodigious a number that the air was obscured; and
that they could not distinguish one another at a
distance of ten paces. I remain here until Monsieur
D'Iberville's arrival, as I Am in some sort obliged to
do, in order to serve as chaplain to the french at this
post, many of whom are Canadians. I have much
to suffer from those Troublesome Flies Up to the
month of may, and still longer, while ascending the
river; for I shall not be able to do so until the
mosquitoes will be So abundant that we shall not be
able to rest at night, or to land in the Daytime to
cook some Indian corn, without being devoured by

Lieuës que J'ay entrepris par le bien de nos missions
den haut leur puisse estre utile a quelque chose aussi
bien que mon retardement qui n'est que pour me
mieux assurer de la verité priez Dieu pour nous
mon R. Pere et croyez que

Je suis auec beaucoup de respect
Mon Reuerend Pere
Votre tres humble et tres
Obeissant Seruiteur
JACQUES GRAVIER.

Depuis cette lettre ecrite Il y eut un an en feurier
dernier de la presente année 1702. Les françois ont
abandonné les deux postes cy dessus mentionnés
tant du Mississipi, que de la baye de Bilocchi pour se
placer à La riuiere appellée la mobile du nom des
sauuages qui y ont leur village appellés mobiliens.
Cette riuiere entre dans la mer a 15 lieuës en deça
de Bilocchi. Il y a 2 iles peu eloignées de son
emboucheurre qui font un port pour Les nauires; et
en montant auec des Chalouppes l'espace de 14 lieuës
sur la mobile, il s'y trouue a present un fort Regulier
construit par M^r. d'Jberuille, et des maisons
pour les soldats et pour quelques francois venus de
Canada. Le sol en est fort bon; on y a tracé le plan
d'une ville qui se formera, des Colonies francoises
qu'on envoyera si la cour Le Juge apropos. Il y a
diuers villages d'indiens a une, deux et 3 journées
du fort de La mobile, que les nouueaux missionnaires
pourront instruire en n^re S^te. Religion.

them. God Be praised for everything. I must be
content with all, whatever it may cost me,—provided
this voyage of over a thousand Leagues,
which I have undertaken for the good of our
missions in the upper country, may be of some
use to them, as well as my delay, which is caused
through my desire better to ascertain the truth. Pray
to God for us, my Reverend Father; and believe that

I am with much respect,
My Reverend Father,
Your very humble and very
Obedient Servant,
JACQUES GRAVIER.

Since this letter was written,—a year ago, last february,
that of the present year, 1702,—The french
have abandoned the two posts mentioned above, both
that of Mississipi and that of the bay of Bilocchi, to
establish themselves on The river called the mobile,
from the name of the savages who have their village
there, and are called mobilians. That river falls into
the sea 15 leagues this side of Bilocchi. There are
2 islands at a short distance from its mouth, that
form a port for ships; and, on ascending in Shallops
a distance of 14 leagues up the mobile, there is a
Regular fort built by Monsieur d'Iberville, with
houses for the soldiers and for some frenchmen who
have come from Canada. The soil is very good.
The plan of a town has been traced out, which will
be settled by french Colonies that will be sent there,
if the court Deem expedient. There are some indian
villages at distances of one, two, and 3 days' journey
from fort mobile, whom the new missionaries may
instruct in our Holy Religion. [34]

Les Revenus des Jésuites en Canada,

1701.

Nous Religieux de la Compagnie de Jesus en
Canada soussignez pour obeir a lordre de sa
maj^té. lequel nous a esté notifié par M^r. le Ch^er.
de Calliere gouverneur et lieutenant general dans
toute la [nouuelle] france s[e]ptentrionale et par M^r.
de Champigny jntendant du pays Certiffions que nos
Revenus fixes et Casuels auec et nos Charges et
obligations sont tels qujl en suit.

Revenues of the Jesuits in Canada,

1701.

We, the undersigned, Religious of the Society
of Jesus in Canada, in obedience to the order
of his majesty which has been made known
to us by Monsieur the Chevalier de Calliere, governor
and lieutenant-general in all northern new france,
and by Monsieur de Champigny, intendant of the
country, do Certify that our fixed Revenues and
Perquisites, with both our Taxes and obligations,
are as follows:

Il est Vray que quant les annéés sont bonnes jl
peut augmenter de 1000ll. ou enuiron mais aussy
quant elles sont mauvaises ou par les saisons, ou par
la guerre qui fait tout encherire dans les pays eloignez
les reuenus diminuent e la depense augmente
beaucoup.

LE DEPENSÉ

Sur le Reuenu cy dessus jl faut nourir habiller
fournir de necessaire quarante huit Religieux que
nous sommes, neuf domestiques perpetuels que l'on
nomme donnez quasi tous ageez et usez dans les
missions de mesme que la plus part des peres qui y
ont vieilly et qui restent Cassez des rudes trauaux
de telles missions; Nous auons encore dans nos
missions du moins quatorze hommes ou seruiteurs a
gages pour mener en canot les missionnaires aux
lieux eloignez ou demeurent les sauuages; les fournir
de bois et les ayder dans d'autres choses semblables.

Jl faut adjoutter l'entretien de nos sacristies, de nos
eglises ou chapelles dans les missions, les reparãons
de nos batimens les depenses pour tant de voyages
pour les allez et venus des missionnaires, sur tout les
grands frais pour porter aux missionnaires á 3. ou 4
et a 500 lieues de quebec toutes leur necessitez les
aumosnes aux pauures françois et Sauuages. Ainsy
nous n'auons que tres mediocrement pour fournir a

It is True that, when the years are good, this may
be increased by 1,000 livres, or thereabout; but,
when they are bad,—either through the seasons, or
through war, which causes everything to become
dear in distant countries,—the revenues diminish
accordingly, and the expenses greatly increase. [35]

Script reproduction of the financial statement

THE EXPENDITURES.

From the above Revenues we must feed, clothe,
and furnish with necessaries our fathers and brethren
who are here,—forty-eight Religious, and nine
perpetual domestics called "donnez," almost all of
whom are aged and worn out in the missions; so are
also most of the fathers, who have grown old and are
Broken down by the arduous labors of such missions.
We have also in our missions at least fourteen men
as hired servants, to take the missionaries in canoes to
the remote places where the savages live, to furnish
them with wood, and to help them in other like ways.

There must be added the maintenance of our
sacristies, and of our churches or chapels in the
missions, and the repairs of our buildings; the expenses
for all the journeys of the missionaries coming
and going; and, above all, the great outlays for
carrying to the missionaries, at 3, 4, and 500 leagues
from quebec, all their necessaries, and the alms to
the poor, both french and Savages. Thus we have

tant de depenses et outre plus de 6000ll. que nous
deuons actuellement, nous auons a payer shaque
annéé une rente de 1000ll. amortissable

Nos principaux etablissemens sont le College de
Quebec. ou jl y a 18 Religieux, C'est la ou se
retirent ceux que les rudes fatigues de ces missions
ont mis hors de seruice

Celle de S^t. François de salle composéé d'abnaquis,
de loups et de sokokis ou jl y a 2 prestres missionnaires
jesuites

La mission des abnaquis de lacadie pres des Anglois
ou jl y a trois peres missionnaires, Dans les missions
des outaois, jslinois, miamis, scioux et autres nations
jusqu'auant dans le mississipy jls sont onze prestres
jesuites et quatre freres.

A la mission de laurette ou sont les restes de la
nation huronne un prestre jesuite

De plus deux et quelques fois trois peres du College
de Quebec partent le printemps pour les missions des
Papinachois, de ta doussac, de Chikoutimy, des mistassins,
et du lac S^t. Jean, et n'en reuiennent que
bien auant dans l'automne et souuent mesme quelqu'un
d'eux y passe aussy l'hyuer, fait a Quebec ce
4^e. Octobre 1701 et en foy de ce que dessus nous
signé la presente declaration comme tres veritable,
ainsy signé martin bouuart recteur du College de
quebec et superieur des missions de la Compagnie
de Jesus dans la nouuelle france, françois Vallant et
pierre Rafaix

only a very moderate amount with which to provide
for so many expenses; and, besides more than 6,000
livres that we actually owe, we have to pay annually
an amortisable rent of 1,000 livres.

Our principal establishments are: the College of
Quebec, where there are 18 Religious; It is to this
place that those whom the severe fatigues of these
missions have rendered unfit for service retire.

The mission of the iroquois of the sault, near
montreal, where there are four fathers.

That of St. François de salle, composed of abnaquis,
loups, and sokokis, where there are 2 priests,
jesuit missionaries.

The mission of the abnaquis of acadia, near the
English, where there are three missionary fathers.
In the missions of the outaois, islinois, miamis,
scioux, and other nations, to the frontier of the
mississipy region, there are eleven jesuit priests and
four brethren.

At the mission of laurette, where dwell the
remnant of the huron nation, one jesuit priest.

Moreover, two and sometimes three fathers from
the College of Quebec leave in the spring for the
missions of the Papinachois, of tadoussac, of Chikoutimy,
of the mistassins, and of lake St. John, and
do not return until far into the autumn; and often
some one of them even spends there the winter also.
Done at Quebec, this 4th of October, 1701; and, in
testimony of the above, we have signed the present
declaration as exact and true. Signed, therefore,
martin bouvart, rector of the College of quebec, and
superior of the missions of the Society of Jesus in
new france; françois Vallant, and pierre Rafaix.

Lettre du R. P. Étienne de Carheil à M. Louis Hector de Callières, gouverneur.

Si Jaurois pu Croire que ma descente la
bas vous dut estre de quelque plus grande
utilité que ne lont esté touttes les lettres que je vous
ay Ecrites continuellement pendant quinze ans
Entiers pour vous jnformer exactement, selon dieu,
selon la Verité, selon ma Conscience de tout Ce qui
etoit absolument necessaire pour lauancement de nos
missions et pour le bien de la Colonie, je naurois pas
manque de descendre et je me serois fait un devoir
de vous aller expliquer de vive voix ce que Je naurois
pas assez declaré par mes lettres: mais comme je
nay rien omis de ce que je me Croyois obligé de vous
faire Connoitre, et que je ne vois pas ce qui se
pouvoit ajouter a tant de lettres, je suis entierement
Conuaincu que ma descente ne pouvoit que vous estre
jnutile apres touttes les Connoissances quelles vous
ont données de letat ou nous auons esté jusques a
present et ou nous sommes encore aujourdhuy.

Mais quand Je ne vous aurois Jamais rien Ecrit Jl
ne faut quavoir veu tout Ce que se voit tous les jours
a Montreal, et Ce que vous navez veu que trop souuent
vous meme pour emporter auec vous en france,
de quoy Informer sa majesté et lobliger a secourir

Letter by Reverend Father Étienne de Carheil to Monsieur Louis Hector de Callières, governor.

Could I have Believed that my going down
below would have been of any greater use to
you than have been all the letters that I have Written
to you continually, during fifteen Entire years,—for
the purpose of informing you exactly, as in God's
sight, according to Truth, according to my Conscience,
of all That was absolutely necessary for the
advancement of our missions and for the welfare of
the Colony,—I would not have failed to go down;
and I would have made it my duty to go to explain
to you verbally what I might not have sufficiently
made known in my letters. But, as I have omitted
nothing that I Considered myself obliged to let
you Know, and as I do not see what could have been
added to so many letters, I am fully Convinced that
my going down could only have been useless to you,
after all the Information that has been conveyed to
you respecting the condition in which we have been
up to the present, and in which we still are to-day.

But, even if I had Never Written to you, It was
only necessary to have seen all That is to be seen
every day at Montreal, and That you yourself have
only too often seen, to enable you to carry back to
france enough to give Information to his majesty,

nos missions qui sont reduites a une telle extremité,
que nous ne pouuons plus les soutenir contre une
multitude jnfinie de desordres de brutalitéz, de
violences, djnjustices, djmpietez, djmpudicitéz djnsolences,
de mepris, djnsultes que ljnfame et funeste
traitte deau de vie y cause vniversellement dans
touttes les nations djcy haut ou lon vient la faire
allant de villages en villages, et courant les lacs avec
une quantité prodigieuse de barils, sans garder
aucune mesure; si sa majesté avoit veu une seule fois
Ce qui se passe et jcy et a montreal dans tous les
temps quon y fait Cette malheureuse traitte, Je suis
seur qu'elle ne balanceroit pas un moment des la
premiere veue a la deffendre pour jamais sous les
plus vigoureuses peines.

Dans le desespoir ou nous sommes jl ne nous reste
point de party a prendre que celuy de quitter nos
missions et de les abandonner aux traitteurs deau
de vie, pour y etablir le domaine de leur traitte, de
lyurognerie et de ljmpureté, Cest Ce que nous
allons proposer a nos Superieurs en Canada et en
france, y etant Contraints par letat djnutilité et djmpuissance
de f^re. aucun fruit ou lon nous a reduits
par la permission de Cette deplorable traitte, permission
que lon na obtenue de sa majesté que sous
un pretexte aparent de Raisons que lon scait estre
fausses, permission q^le. n'acorderoit point, si Ceux
ausq^ls. elle se raporte de la verité, la luy fesoient
Connoitre, Comme jls la Connoissent eux memes et
tout le Canada auec eux, permission enfin qui est le
plus grand mal, et le principe de tous les maux qui
arivent presentement au pays, et surtout des naufrages
dont on nentendoit point parler auant elle, et

and to constrain him to succor our missions. These
are reduced to such an extremity that we can no
longer maintain them against an infinite multitude
of evil acts—acts of brutality and violence; of injustice
and impiety; of lewd and shameless conduct; of
contempt and insults. To such acts the infamous
and baleful trade in brandy gives rise everywhere,
among all the nations up here,—where it is carried
on by going from village to village, and by roving
over the lakes with a prodigious quantity of brandy
in barrels, without any restraint. Had his majesty
but once seen What passes, both here and at montreal,
during the whole time while This wretched
traffic goes on, I am sure that he would not for a
moment hesitate, at the very first sight of it, to
forbid it forever under the severest penalties.

In our despair there is no other step to take than to
leave our missions and abandon them to the brandy
traders, so that they may establish therein the domain
of their trade, of drunkenness, and of immorality.
That is What we shall propose to our Superiors
in Canada and in france, being Compelled thereto by
the state of uselessness and inability to which we
have been reduced by the permission given to carry
on That deplorable trade—a permission that has
been obtained from his majesty only by means of a
pretext apparently Reasonable, but known to be
false; a permission that he would not grant if They
upon whom he relies for ascertaining the truth really
made it Known to him As they themselves, and the
whole of Canada with them, Know it; a permission,
in fine, that is at once the climax and the source of
all the evils that are now occurring in the country.
Especially does it cause the wrecks, of which we

que nous aprenons maintenant ariver presque touttes
les années ou dans la Venue ou dans le retour de nos
Vaisseaux en france par une juste punition de Dieu
qui fait perir par leau ce qu'on avoit mal acquis par
leau de vie, ou qui dussent empecher le transport
pour prevenir le mauvais usage quon en feroit. si
Cette permission nest revoquée par une defense Contraire,
nous navons plus que faire de demeurer dans
aucune de nos missions djcy haut pour y perdre le
reste de notre vie et touttes nos peines dans une pure
jnutilité sous lempire dune Continuelle yvrognerie
et dune jmpureté universelle quon ne permet pas
moins aux traitteurs deau de vie que la traitte meme
dont elle est et laccompagnement et la suitte.

si sa majesté veut sauuer nos missions et soutenir
lEtablissement de la Religion comme nous ne Doutons
point quelle ne le veille, nous la suplions tres
humblement de Croire Ce qui est tres veritable qujl
ny a point d'autre moyen de le pouuoir faire que
dabolir entierement les deux Infames Comerces qui
les ont reduites a la necessité prochaine de perir, et
qui ne tarderont pas a acheuer de les perdre s'jls ne
sont au plustost abolis par ses ordres, et mis hors
detat detre retablis, le premier est le Comerce de
leau de vie, le second est le Comerce des femmes
sauuages avec les francois, qui sont tous deux aussy
publicqs lun que lautre, sans que nous puissions y
remedier pour netre pas appuyez des Comandants,
qui bien loin de les vouloir empecher sur les remontrances
que nous leur ferons, les exercent eux memes
auec plus de liberté que leurs Inferieurs, et les
autorisent tellement par leur exemple, qu'en le regardant
ou sen fait une permission generale, et une

never heard before it was given, but which we now
hear of as occurring almost every year—while the
Ships are either Coming from or returning to france.
This results from a just punishment by God, who
causes the destruction by water of what had been
wickedly gained by brandy; and these wrecks should
have prevented the transportation of the liquor, in
order to avoid the evil use that would be made of it.
If That permission be not revoked by a prohibition to
the Contrary, we no longer have occasion to remain in
any of our missions up here, to waste the remainder
of our lives and all our efforts in purely useless labor,
under the dominion of Continual drunkenness and of
universal immorality—which are no less permitted to
the traders in brandy than is the trade itself, of which
they are both the accompaniment and the sequel.

If his majesty desire to save our missions and to
support the Establishment of Religion, as we have
no Doubt he does, we beg him most humbly to
Believe What is most true, namely: that there is no
other means of doing so than to abolish completely
the two Infamous sorts of Commerce which have
brought the missions to the brink of destruction, and
which will not long delay in destroying these if they
be not abolished as soon as possible by his orders,
and be prevented from ever being restored. The
first is the Commerce in brandy; the second is the
Commerce of the savage women with the french.
Both are carried on in an equally public manner,
without our being able to remedy the evil, because
we are not supported by the Commandants. They—far
from attempting, when we undertake to remonstrate
with them, to check these trades—themselves
carry them on with greater freedom than do their

assurance d'jmpunité, qui les rend Communs a tout
Ce qui vient jcy de francois en traitte; de sorte que
tous les vilages de nos sauuages ne sont plus que des
Cabarets pour lyvrognerie et que des sodomes pour
ljmpureté, d'ou jl faut que nous nous retirions en les
abandonnant a la juste Colere de Dieu et a ses
vengeances.

Vous voyez par la que de quelque maniere quon
Etablisse le Comerce francois auec nos sauuages, si
lon veut nous retenir encore parmy eux, nous y conseruer
et nous y soutenir en qualité de miss^res. dans
le libre Exercice de nos fonctions auec esperance d'y
faire du fruit, Il faut nous deliurer des Comandans,
et de leurs garnisons, qui bien loin detre necess^res.
sont au contraire si pernicieuses que nous pouuons
dire auec verité quelles sont le plus grand mal de nos
missions, ne seruant qua nuire et a la traitte ord^re.
des voyageurs et a lavancem^t de la foy. depuis
quelles sont venues jcy haut nous ny auons plus veu
quune Coruption universelle quelles ont repandue
par leur vie scandaleuse dans tous les esprits de Ces
nations qui en sont presentement jnfectées, tout le
seruice pretendu quon veut f^re. acroire quelles
Rendent au Roy se reduit a 4 principales ocupãons
dont nous vous prions jnstament de bien Jnformer
Sa maj^té.

La premiere est de tenir un Cabaret public deau
de vie ou jls la traittent Continuellement aux sauuages
qui ne Cessent point de senyurer, quelques
opositions que nous y puissions faire. Cest en vain
que nous leur parlons pour les areter, nous ny
gagnons rien que detre acusez de nous oposer nous

Subordinates; and so sanction them by their example
that, on witnessing it, a general permission and an
assurance of impunity are assumed, that cause them
to become Common to all the french who come here to
trade. So much is this the case that all the villages
of our savages are now only Taverns, as regards
drunkenness; and sodoms, as regards immorality—from
which we must withdraw, and which we must
abandon to the just Anger and vengeance of God.

You see by this that, in whatever manner the
french Trade is Established among our savages, if it
be desired to still retain us among them, and to keep
and support us there in the capacity of missionaries,—in
the free Exercise of our functions, with the hope
of obtaining some result,—we must be delivered from
the Commandants and from their garrisons. These,
far from being necessary, are, on the contrary, so
pernicious that we can truly say that they are the
greatest scourge of our missions; for they serve but
to injure both the ordinary trade of the voyageurs
and the advancement of the faith. Since they have
come up here we have observed but one universal
Corruption, which by their scandalous mode of
living they have spread in the minds of all These
nations, who are now infected by it. All the
pretended service which it is sought to make people
believe that they Render to the King is reduced to 4
chief occupations, of which we earnestly beg you to
Inform His majesty.

The first consists in keeping a public Tavern for
the sale of brandy, wherein they trade it Continually
to the savages, who do not Cease to become intoxicated,
notwithstanding all our efforts to prevent it.
In vain do we speak to them, to try to stop them;

La seconde ocupation des soldats est detre envoyez
dun poste a lautre par les Comandants pour y porter
leurs marchandises et leur eau de vie apres setre
acomodez ensemble, sans que les uns et les autres
ayent d'autre soin que Celuy de sentr'ayder mutuellement
dans leur Comerce, et afin que Cela sexecute
plus facilem^t des deux Costez comme jls le souhaitent,
Jl faut que les Comandans se ferment les
yeux pour user de Connivence et ne voir aucun des
Desordres de leurs soldats quelques visibles publics
et scandaleux qu'jls soient, et jl faut reciproquem^t.
que les soldats, outre qujls traittent leurs propres
marchandises, se fassent encore les traiteurs de Celles
de leurs Comandans, qui souuent meme les obligent
d'en acheter deux pour leur permettre daller ou jls
veulent.

Leur troisiême ocupation est de faire de leur fort
un lieu que j'ay honte d'apeler par son propre nom,
ou les femmes ont apris que leurs corps pouuoient
tenir lieu de marchandises, et q^ls. y seroient encore
mieux receus que le Castor, de sorte que cest la
presentement le Comerce le plus ord^re. le plus Continuel,
et le plus en vogue quelques efforts que
puissent faire tous les missionnaires pour le denier
et pour l'abolir, au lieu de diminuer jl s'augmente et
se multiplie tous les jours de plus en plus; tous les
soldats tiennent table ouuerte a touttes les femmes
de leur connoissance dans leur maison: depuis le
matin jusques au soir, elles y passent les Journées
entieres les unes apres les autres assises a leur feu
et souuent sur leur lit dans des entretiens et des

we gain nothing but the accusation of opposing the
King's service, by endeavoring to prevent a trade
that he has permitted.

The second occupation of the soldiers consists in
being sent from one post to another by the Commandants
in order to carry their wares and their
brandy thither, after having made arrangements
together; and none of them have any other object
than That of mutually assisting one another in their
Traffic. And, in order that This may be more easily
done on both Sides according to their wishes, the
Commandants must close their eyes, that they may
be able to Connive at and not observe the Misconduct
of their soldiers,—however visible, public, and scandalous
it may be; the soldiers must, in turn, besides
trafficking in their own wares, become traffickers in
Those of their Commandants, who frequently compel
the soldiers to buy merchandise from them, in
order to gain permission to go where they please.

Their third occupation consists in making of their
fort a place that I am ashamed to call by its proper
name, where the women have found out that their
bodies might serve in lieu of merchandise and would
be still better received than Beaver-skins; accordingly,
that is now the most usual and most Continual
Commerce, and that which is most extensively carried
on. Whatever efforts the missionaries may
make to denounce and abolish it, this traffic increases,
instead of diminishing, and grows daily more and
more. All the soldiers keep open house in their
dwellings for all the women of their acquaintance.
From morning to night, they pass entire Days there,
one after another—sitting by their fire, and often
on their beds, engaged in conversations and actions

actions propres de leur comerce qui ne sacheve
ordinairement que la nuit la foule etant trop grande
pendant la journée pour qujls puissent lachever,
quoyque souuent aussy jls sentrelaissent une maison
vuide de monde pour nen pas differer lachevement
jusques a la nuit.

La 4^e ocupation des soldats est Celle du jeu qui
dans les temps ou les traiteurs se rasemblent, jl y va
quelques fois a un tel excez que n'etans pas contens
dy passer le jour, jls y passent encore la nuit entiere,
et il narive meme que trop souuent dans lardeur de
leur aplication qujls ne se souuiennent pas, ou s'jls
sen souuiennent qujls meprisent de garder les festes;
mais Ce qui augmente en Cela leur desordre, Cest
quun atachement si opiniatre au jeu nest presque
jamais sans une Jvrognerie comune de tous les
joueurs, et que lyurognerie est presque toujours
suivie de querelles qui sexcitent entreux, lesquelles
venant a paroitre publiquement aux yeux des sauuages
Causent parmy eux trois grands scandales, le
p^er. de les voir yures; le second de les voir sentre-batre
auec fureur les uns contre les autres jusqua
prendre les fusils en main pour sentretuer, le troisieme
de voir que les missionnaires ny peuuent
aporter aucun Remede.

Voila m^gr les 4 seules ocupations des garnisons que
lon a tenuees jcy pendant tant d'années, si Ces sortes
d'occupations peuuent sapeller service du roy, j auoue
quelles luy ont toujours actuellement rendu quelquun
de Ces quatre seruices; mais je n'en ay point veu
dautres que Ces quatre la; et par consequent si on
ne juge pas que Ce soit la des services necess^res. au
Roy, jl ny a point eu Jusques a present de necessité

proper to their commerce. This generally ends only
at night, because the crowd is too great during the day
to allow of their concluding it then—although they
frequently arrange among themselves to leave a house
empty, so as not to defer the conclusion until night.

The 4th occupation of the soldiers is gambling,
which at the times when the traders assemble sometimes
proceeds to such excess that they are not satisfied
with passing the whole day, but they also spend
the whole night in this pursuit. And it happens
but too frequently that, in the ardor of their game,
they forget—or, if they do remember, they scorn
to observe—the feast-days. But What makes their
misconduct on This score still worse is, that so persistent
an attachment to the game is hardly ever
unaccompanied by the general Intoxication of all the
players; and drunkenness is nearly always followed
by quarrels that arise among them. When these
occur publicly before the eyes of the savages, they
Give rise to three grave scandals: the first at seeing
them intoxicated; the second, at witnessing them
fighting furiously with one another,—sometimes to
the extent of seizing their guns in order to kill each
other; the third, at observing that the missionaries
cannot Remedy these evils.

Such, monseigneur, are the 4 sole occupations of
the garrisons, which they have followed here during
so many years. If occupations of This kind can be
called the king's service, I admit that they have
always actually rendered him one of Those four services.
But I have observed none other than Those
four; and consequently, if such services be not considered
necessary to the King, there has never been
Hitherto any necessity for keeping them here; and,

de les tenir jcy, et apres leur rapel jl ny en a point
de les retablir. cependant Comme Cette necessité
pretendue des garnisons est lunique pretexte que
lon prend pour y envoyer des commandants, nous
vous prions Monseig^r. detre bien persuadé de la
fausseté de Ce pretexte, afin que sous Ces specieuses
aparences du seruice du Roy on ne se fasse pas une
obligation den Enuoyer, puisquen effet, les Comandants
ne viennent jcy que pour y faire la traitte de
Concert auec leurs soldats sans se mettre en peine
de tout le Reste, Ils nont de liaison auec les missionnaires
que par les Endroits ou jls se les Croyent
utiles pour leurs temporel, et hors de la jls leur sont
contraires des qujls veulent soposer au desordre qui
ne s acordant ny avec le seruice de dieu ny auec le
seruice du Roy, ne laisse pas detre auantageux a
leur comerce auquel jl nest rien qujls ne sacrifient.
Cest la lunique Cause qui a mis le dereglement dans
nos missions et qui les a tellement desolées par
lascendant que les Comandants ont pris sur les
miss^rs. en sattirant toutte lautorité soit a legard des
francois soit a legard des sauuages, que nous nauons
plus dautre pouuoir que Celuy d'y trauailler jnutilement
sous leur domination qui s'est Eleué jusqua
nous faire des crimes Civils et des accusations
pretendues juridiques des propres fonctions de notre
Etat et de notre deuoir Comme la toujours fait M^r.
de la Motte qui ne vouloit pas meme que nous nous
seruissions du mot de Desordres, et qui jntenta en
effet procez au pere prieur pour sen estre servi!

Auant qujl y eut jcy des Comandans les missionnaires
Etoient Ecoutez des traitteurs parcequ'alors
jls aprehendoient de leur donner ocasion de faire des

after they are recalled, there is no necessity of sending
any back. However, As This pretended need of
garrisons is the sole pretext that is made use of to
send commandants here, we beg you, Monseigneur,
to be fully convinced of the falseness of That pretext,
so that under Those specious appearances of
the King's service it may not be considered obligatory
to Send us any garrisons. For, in reality, the
Commandants come here solely for the purpose of
trading, in Concert with their soldiers, without
troubling themselves about anything Else. They
have no intercourse with the missionaries, except
with regard to Matters wherein they Consider the
latter useful for the furtherance of their own temporal
affairs; and beyond that they are hostile to the
fathers as soon as these undertake to oppose the
misconduct which, being in accord neither with the
service of God nor with the service of the King, is
nevertheless advantageous to the trade of the Commandants,
who sacrifice everything to it. That is
the sole Cause of the disorder in our missions, which
has so desolated them—through the ascendancy that
the Commandants have obtained over the missionaries,
by assuming all authority over both the french
and the savages—that we now have no other power
than That of laboring in vain under their domination.
This has Gone so far as to make Civil crimes,
and grounds for pretended juridical accusations, out
of the performance of the very functions of our
Ministry and of our duty. This was always done by
Monsieur de la Motte, who would not even allow us to
use the word "Misconduct," and who even brought
a suit against the father prior for having used it! [36]

plaintes touchant leur Conduite, qui obligeassent les
puissances de les rapeler et de ne leur plus acorder
de Congez. Mais depuis qu'on a Envoyé des commandants
tout Ce qujl y a de desordres necess^res.
pour f^re. la traitte telle quon la veut, ne passe plus
pour desordre, et jl ny a plus de plaintes a en faire
par la raison que ce sont leurs meilleurs moyens pour
la fin qujls pretendent et qujls sont tous Egalement
daccord en Cela. les Comandants ne se plaignent
pas des traitteurs quoyqujls fassent parcequjls les
engagent presque tous a les ayder dans leur traitte,
et les traitteurs assurez q^ls. sont par Ces Engagem^ts.
quon ne se plaindra pas deux et qu au Contraire on
se fera un jnteret de les Soutenir, se donnent touttes
sortes de Libertez sans rien Craindre du Costé des
Mission^res. et bien loin den rien Craindre jl ariue
mesme que les Comandans et tous les traitteurs
conspirent ensem^e dun Comun Concert a se plaindre
des mission^res. aupres des puissances superieures et
a les denier le plus q^ls. peuuent pour les rendre
odieux a tout le public, esperant dempecher par la
que les acusãons qujls pouroient former de leurs
dereglemens ne soient Ecoutées. Et en effet elles
ne le sont point, les miss^res. se trouuent reduits
au Silence, a lynaction, a ljmpuissance et a une
privation generale de toutte autorité.

Que si quelques fois les Comandans sont obligez
de f^re. En de Certaines rencontres quelque chose de
Contraire aux libertez ordinaires du Comerce des
voyageurs alors ces off^ers. pour detourner la haine et
lalienation des esprits que Ces obligaons leur pouroient
Causer, et pour s'en decharger sur les missionnaires
usent dune adresse, dont nous neussions jamais

missionaries Were always Listened to by the traders
because they were afraid to give them any grounds
for making complaints respecting their Conduct,
which might compel the authorities to recall them,
and to refuse to grant them any further Permission.
But, since the commandants have been Sent here, all
the misconduct that is needed for carrying on the
trade, as these men wish to carry it on, no longer
passes for misconduct; and no complaints can be
made of it, because it is the best means toward the
end that they have in view, and because they are
all Equally in accord on That point. The Commandants
do not complain of the traders, whatever they
may do, because they engage nearly all of them to
assist them in their trade; and as the traders are
sure, on account of Such Engagements, that no complaints
will be made against them, and that, on the
Contrary, the Commandants will make it their interest
to Support them, they take every kind of Liberty,
without having any Fear of the Missionaries. Far
from Fearing them, it sometimes happens even that
the Commandants and all the traders conspire
together, with a Common Accord, to complain of the
missionaries to the higher authorities, and to
denounce them as much as possible, so as to make
them odious to all the people,—hoping that thereby
the charges that the missionaries might bring against
their misconduct will not be Listened to. And in
fact they are not; the missionaries are reduced to
Silence, to inaction, to impotence, and to general
deprivation of all authority.

And if, On Some occasions, the Commandants are
obliged to do something Contrary to the usual freedom
of the voyageurs' Trade, then those officers—to

auertir. Ce qujls font donc dans Ces occasions Cest
q^ls. affectent de nous venir voir plus souvent qua
lord^re. qujls nous parlent, qujls nous entretiennent
et nous proposent Ce qujls doivent faire Comme
s'jls auoient besoin sur Cela de nos auis et ensuitte
sous Ces aparences de visites dentretient et de Consultations
jls donnent a entendre aux traitteurs que
Cest par nos remontrances et nos sollicitations qujls
sont Contraints dagir de la sorte malgré qujls [en]
ayent, n'est ce pas la une Etrange conduite pour des
Commandans contre des personnes de notre Caractere
qujls deuroient soutenir dans leur employ, et apuyer
de leur autorité.

Jl est encore jmportant de vous avertir dun abus
que les Comandans ont jntroduit a legard des
sauuages, et qui na eu que de mauuais effets, Cest
que netant pas Contens du gain Continuel qujls font
par la traitte, Jls ont encore trouué le moyen de
persuader a la Cour qujl falloit leur fournir un fond
considerable pour faire des presens aux sauuages soit
afin de les engager dans nos jnterets dans nos
desseins, et dans nos entreprises, soit afin de les
recompenser quand jls auroient rendu des seruices
qui seroient jugez en etre dignes. Voila a la verité
un beau pretexte qui a je ne scais quoy de fort plausible
dans Ses aparences, mais jl est Certain qujl ny
a jamais eu rien de moins necess^re. a legard des sauuages
que de prendre la Voye des presens pour les
faire agir, Cest a quoy jls ne pensoient point, et a
quoy on nauroit Jamais deu penser non plus qu'eux.

divert the hatred and estrangement of minds to
which Such obligations might Give rise, and to
remove the odium thereof from themselves to the
missionaries—display a certain cleverness, of which
we would never have had the slightest suspicion had
not some persons who are well aware of it informed
us thereof. What they do on Such occasions is to
affect to come to see us more frequently than usual;
to speak to us; to converse with us, and submit to
us What they should do, As if they needed our
advice on the Subject; and afterward—through
Those appearances of visits, conversations, and
Consultations,—they make the traders believe that It
is owing to our remonstrances and solicitations that
they are Compelled to act in that manner, although
they would prefer not to do so. Is not this Strange
conduct for Commandants toward persons of our
Character, whom they should sustain in their duty
and support with their authority?

It is also important that you should be informed of
an abuse that the Commandants have introduced
with respect to the savages, which has produced
among them only bad results. It is this, that—not
Content with the Constant profit which they derive
from the trade—They have found means to convince
the Court that it is necessary to supply them with
considerable funds for the purpose of making presents
to the savages—either to interest them in our
concerns, our designs, and our undertakings, or to
reward them when they render services that may be
deemed worthy of recompense. This is truly a fine
pretext, which has something very plausible in
appearance; but it is Certain that never was anything
less needed with regard to the savages than to have

Jls agisoient auparauant deux memes par un mouuement
purement volontaire, ou tout au plus par
lynvitation de quelq^e. Branche de porcelaine ou de
quelque collier quon leur presentoit sans qujls eussent
dautre jdeé que celle la qui leur etoit propre et selon
leur Coutume. Jl ne falloit rien daventage pour
leur f^re. f^re. Ce quon vouloit que de se servir de leurs
manieres, mais le desir dauoir un fond quon put
menager Comme ou voudroit avec des Epargnes dun
grand profit, ayant porté a persuader a la Cour qujl
Etoit necessaire que les Comandans eussent de quoy
leur f^re. des presens, tout leffet que Cela a produit
du Costé des sauuages Cest de leur aprendre a estre
difficiles a se f^re. prier, a contraindre dacheter touttes
leurs actions et tous leurs mouuemens a force de presens,
et enfin a ne rien acorder de ce qujls deuvoient
faire volontairement qua ce quon leur donne et qujls
exigent.

Mais Ce qujl y a de plus facheux dans Cette Conduitte
Cest q^le. ne leur a pas seulement apris a ne
vouloir presque Jamais rien faire de ce quon veut
deux, a moins dun present qui les y determine, elle
leur a encore outre Cela apris a user dune jnfinité
dadresses, de feintes, et djntrigues entreux a jmaginer
mille desseins dentreprises pretendues, de
mouuemens de guerre, de ruptures de paix, dembassades
Chez les ennemis et de negotiations auec eux,
de liaisons de Comerce auec langlois et aux Choses
de Cette nature dont jls font semblant davoir resolu
lexecution pour engager par la les Comandans a se
Croire obligez de les areter par des presens, voila
leffet que Cette nouvelle Coutume a produit dans

Recourse to presents to induce them to act. That
is what they Never thought of, and which no one
should have thought of any more than they did.
Formerly they acted of their own accord, from a
purely voluntary impulse—or, at most, on the invitation
conveyed by means of a Branch of porcelain,
or of a collar that was presented to them,—without
their having any other idea than what was natural to
them, and in accordance with their Customs. Nothing
further was needed to make them do What we
wished, than to follow their ways. But the desire
of having a fund that could be disposed of As one
wished, with the Savings of a great profit obtained,
has led to an attempt being made to persuade the
Court that it Was necessary that the Commandants
should have the wherewithal to give presents to the
savages. The sole effect which This has produced
upon the savages has been, to teach them to be exacting
in requiring that they be solicited; to make it
necessary that all their actions and all their emotions
be purchased by dint of presents; and, finally, that
they do nothing that they should do voluntarily,
except in return for something which is given them
and which they exact.

But the most vexatious part of Such Conduct is
that not only has it taught them to be hardly Ever
willing to do anything that is asked of them without
a present to induce them, but it has also taught
them to make use of an infinite number of ruses, of
stratagems, and of intrigues among themselves; to
imagine a thousand projects of pretended undertakings,
of warlike movements, of ruptures of peace, of
embassies To the enemies, and negotiations with
them; of Commercial intercourse with the english,

lesprit des sauuages, de sorte qujls nont plus aujourdhuy
dautre Exercice ny dautre ocupation aupres des
Comandans que celle de sentr'ayder les uns les autres
a les tromper et a se jouer d'eux en se fesant donner
des presens sous tous les faux pretextes que je viens
de Dire.

Mais auec tout Cela quelques presens quon leur
fasse Ce n'est presque rien du Comparaison du fond
que la Cour fournit aux Comandans pour un tel
Usage, les presens quon leur fait se Reduisent
presque tous a la seule depense du tabac qui est la
plus ord^re. parceque les sauuages l'ayment auec
passion et ne peuuent se passer de fumer continuellement
tant jls y sont accoutumez de leur jeunesse,
Cependant jl sen faut beaucoup que Ce quon leur en
donne sucessivement et peu a peu dans les occasions
quon Croit necess^res. ne monte a une telle somme que
Ce qui reste du fond ne soit de beaucoup plus grand
et plus Considerable; Il est fort a Craindre que les
Comandans ne sen acomodent, et que par des
Epargnes bien menagées Jls nen reseruent la meilleure
partie pour leurs propres Usages. C est
pourtant sur quoy nous n'avons rien a voir ny a dire;
C'est a ceux qui sont Etablis pour cela d'y prendre
garde et dempesher par leur vigilance touttes les
fraudes qui sy pouroient faire et de ne pas souffrir que
sous pretexte dune fausse necessité lon engage le
Roy a de grande depenses Jnutiles.

Jl faut ajouter a tout Ce que je viens de dire
touchant les Commandans que Comme jl ny a point
dautre necessité den envoyer jcy parmy nos sauuages
que celle dy tenir des garnisons qui doivent estre

and Similar Matters. They pretend to have resolved
upon the performance of these, in order thereby to
lead the Commandants to Consider themselves
obliged to buy them with gifts. Such are the effects
that This new Custom has produced on the minds of
the savages, so that at present their sole Business
and occupation, as regards the Commandants, consists
in helping each other to deceive and cheat the
latter, by making them give them presents under the
false pretenses that I have just Mentioned.

But with all This, all the presents that are given
them are almost nothing in Comparison with the
fund supplied by the Court to the Commandants for
that Purpose. The gifts are Reduced almost entirely
to the single expenditure of tobacco—which is the
most usual present, because the savages are passionately
fond of it, and cannot refrain from continually
smoking, so greatly accustomed are they to it from
their youth. However, what remains of the fund is
much greater and more Considerable than the
amount spent in giving them presents, successively
and gradually, on the occasions when it is Deemed
necessary; and It is greatly to be Feared that the
Commandants turn it to their own benefit and that
by careful Economy They keep the best part of it
for their own Use. Still, this is a matter respecting
which we have nothing to see or to say; It is for those
who are Established here for that purpose to see to
it, and to prevent by their vigilance all the frauds
that might be committed in connection therewith, and
not to allow the King to be put to great and Needless
expense under any false pretense of necessity.

To all that I have just said respecting the Commandants,
I must add that—As there is no other

Commandées par quelquun jl est entierement jnutile
dy en Enuoyer parceque les garnisons y sont elles
memes entierement jnutiles, si Ce nest a la traitte
des Commandans et a leur propre traitte, elles ne
sont utiles qua ces deux traittes pour tout le Reste
elles ne seruent de rien ny aux sauuages ny aux
voyageurs ausquels jl apartient de traitter, ny aux
missionnaires. premierement elles ne seruent de
rien aux sauuages pour leffet de la guerre soit dans
leurs vilages soit hors de leurs Villages. dans les
vilages elles ne Seruent de rien par la raison que la
maniere Comune a tous Ces peuples barbares de se
f^re. la guerre nest pas Comme la notre daller attaquer
les Vilages les uns des autres parcequjls ne veulent
jamais sexposer au hazard de perdre du monde Ce
qui est jnevitable dans Ces sortes dattaques; jls ne
se font la guerre que par surprise, que par des
Embuscades que par des aproches Cachées par des
decharges subites et jmpreueues dans les Champs,
dans les bois, a la peche a la chasse et par tout
ailleurs ou jls sentredecouurent hors de leurs Vilages,
de sorte que par Cette Raison les garnisons ne leur
seruent de Rien pour les soutenir et elles leur
seruent encore moins hors des vilages ou les garnisons
non seulement ne doivent pas les suiure, mais
ne le peuuent pas, netant point Capables des mouuemens
qujls font dans les bois et dans touttes sortes
de lieux jmpraticables a tous autres qua eux et aux
betes, tant sen faut quelles pussent les y ayder,
Jl faudroit au Contraire que les sauuages eux
memes les aydassent a se tirer de lembaras ou elles
se trouueroient dans des marshes Aussj difficiles que

necessity of sending any among the savages than
that of keeping garrisons there, which must be
Commanded by some one—it is perfectly useless to
Send any; because the garrisons themselves are quite
unnecessary, except for the trade of the Commandants
and their own trade. They are necessary only
for those two trades; as regards all the Rest, they
are of no use either to the savages or to the
voyageurs, to whom the trade belongs, or to the
missionaries. In the first place, they are of no use
to the savages as regards war, either in their villages
or outside them: in the villages they are Useless,
because the method common to all these barbarous
nations of carrying on warfare does not consist,
Like ours, in going to assault one another's Villages,
because they will never expose themselves to
the danger of losing men Which is unavoidable in
Such assaults. They carry on war only by surprises,
by Ambushes, by Secret approaches, and by sudden
and unforeseen discharges in the Fields, in the
woods, while fishing and hunting, and everywhere
else when they can discover one another outside
their Villages. So, for That Reason, the garrisons
are Useless to them as support; and are still more so
outside the villages—where the garrisons not only
would not follow them, but cannot do so. For the
soldiers are Unable to perform the movements that
the savages perform in the woods, and in all sorts
of places that are impracticable to all but themselves
and the animals; and the soldiers are far from being
able to assist them. On the Contrary, the savages
themselves would have to help extricate them from
the difficulties in which they would be placed on
expeditions As difficult as Those through The Thick

le Sont Celles de Ces Epaisses forests, que lexercice
de lart militaire ne leur a point apris ny pu aprendre,
Jl est donc Evident que les garnisons ne seruent de
Rien aux sauuages ny dans leurs vilages ny hors
leurs vilages, elles leur sont entierem^t jnutiles pour
leur Conseruation et pour leur deffense.

Que si elles sont jnutiles aux sauuages elles le
sont bien davantage aux voyageurs qui recoiuent
des Congez pour venir jcy haut faire leur traitte et
qui seuls ont droit de la faire a lexclusion de tous
les aű qui ny ont aucun droit, et qui ne sauroient
la f^re sans Jnjustice; Cest pourtant la lunique ocupãon
de touttes les garnisons, Cest leur unique employ
qui nest pas seulem^t. Jnutile aux voyageurs, mais
qui leur est extremement nuisible et qui leur fait tort
dautant de Castor et dau. pelleteries q^ls. en amassent.
Enfin les garnisons ne sont pas plus Utiles aux miss^res
quaux sauuages et quaux voyageurs. Jl seroit du
deuoir du Comandant de sen seruir pour les
mission^res. en diverses occasions ou jl sont souuent
obligez de les aller prier de vouloir bien reprimer
les desordres et les Jnsolences publiques des traitteurs
deau de vie et des voyageurs fugitifs qui vont dune
mission a l'autre enyurer les sauuages et debaucher
les femmes dans touttes les Cabanes ou jls vont
loger, ou jls vont les visiter, les entretenir, les Caresser,
les solliciter, et acheter la jouiss^ce. de leur Corps,
toutte la reponse que nous receuons des Comandans
a ces sortes de prieres, Cest qujls nont pas de monde
pour le pouuoir faire, soit parceque les garnisons ne
sont pas assez nombreuses, soit parcequencore bien
quelles le fussent beaucoup dauantage elles ne leur
seroient pas pour Cela dun plus grand secours parce-*

forests, which the practice of military art has never
allowed them to learn. It is therefore Evident that
the garrisons are of No use to the savages either
within or without their villages; they are entirely
useless for their Preservation or their defense.

Now if they be useless to the savages, they are
still more so to the voyageurs who obtain Permission
to come up here to trade, and who alone are entitled
to do so, to the exclusion of all the others—who
have no right to it, and who cannot trade without
doing the voyageurs an Injustice. And yet such is
the sole occupation of all the garrisons; Such is their
unique employment—which is not only Unnecessary
for the voyageurs, but is exceedingly hurtful to
them, and does them damage to the extent of all the
Beaver-skins and other furs that the soldiers collect.
Finally, the garrisons are no more Useful to the
missionaries than to the savages and the voyageurs.
It should be the duty of the Commandant to employ
them in behalf of the missionaries, on various occasions
when the latter are frequently obliged to go
to beg the officials to be pleased to repress the
misconduct and public acts of Insolence of the dealers
in brandy, and of the fugitive voyageurs—who go
from one mission to another, making the savages
drunk and seducing the women in all the Cabins
where they lodge; or they go to visit them, entertain
them, Caress them, solicit them, and purchase
the enjoyment of their Bodies. The only answer to
these prayers that we get from the Commandants is,
that they have not enough men to allow of their
doing so,—either because the garrisons are not sufficiently
numerous; or, even if they were larger,
they would not be of much more help to the

que les voyageurs et les garnisons sont djntelligence
pour sentresoutenir contre les missionnaires et dans
des desordres qui leur sont Communs, et pour Eluder
tous les ordres que les Comandans leur pouuoient
donner. Sjls vouloient prendre le party des Missionn^res.,
mais Jls ne le veulent pas ne pensant eux
memes qua sacomoder auec les Uns et les autres pour
la traitte; depuis que sa Maj^té. a voulu que les Voyageurs
et les Coureurs de bois fussent Rapelez et que
pour faciliter leur retour elle leur a acordé lamnistie,
Ce Rapel nayant pas plu a tout le monde, plus^res.
personnes dautorité qui entretenoient jcy haut
diverses Corespondances de traitte nont pas laissé de
le Continuer envoyant secretement touttes les années
a leurs Corespondans fugitifs de quoy f^re. une nouuelle
traitte, et Ce qui est de plus surprenant Cest que
Ceux meme quon enuoyoit sous pretexte de Venir
aporter lamnistie ny venoient en effet que p^r. traitter
pendant tous le temps la qujls prolongeoient a dessein
le plus qujls pouuoient pour le mieux faire en
debitant touttes leurs denrées a ceux qujls venoient
rapeler, et ausq^ls. par une Conduitte toutte oposée a
leur deuoir jls fournissoient de quoy recomencer
la traitte a leur profit, Cest ainsy que depuis tant
danneés on demande toujours de nouuelles amnisties
parcequon rend toujours les precedentes Jnutiles
v de la maniere que Je viens de Dire.

Vous voyez Mg^r. que Je me suis beaucoup Etendu
sur les articles des Comandans et des Garnisons pour
vous f^re. Comprendre que Cest de la quest venu tout
le malheur de nos missions, Ce sont les Comandans,
Ce sont les Garnisons qui se joignant avec tous les
traiteurs deau de vie, les ont entierem^t desolées par

Commandants, because the voyageurs and the garrisons
have an understanding together, to support one
another against the missionaries both in their Common
misconduct, and in Evading all the orders that
the Commandants might give them, should the latter
choose to take the Missionaries' part. But They do
not choose to do so; and they themselves think of
nothing but accommodating One another with regard
to the trade. Since his Majesty has ordered that
the Voyageurs and the Coureurs de bois be Recalled,
and has granted them an amnesty to facilitate their
return, That Recall has not pleased every one.
Several persons in authority who maintained various
trading Relations here, have not ceased to Continue
the same by secretly sending every year to their
fugitive Agents supplies for carrying on a new trade.
But what is more surprising is, that Those very
persons who were sent here under pretense of
Coming to bring the amnesty came, in reality, solely
to trade during the whole of That time—which they
designedly prolonged as much as they could, the
better to carry out their object by selling all their
wares to those whom they came to recall; and to
whom, by a Conduct entirely opposed to their duty,
they supplied the means of carrying on the trade
once more for their own benefit. That is why for
so many years new amnesties are ever being asked
for, because the previous ones are always rendered
Useless in the manner that I have just Described. [37]

You see, Monseigneur, that I have Dwelt to a
great extent on the subject of Commandants and
Garrisons, to make you Understand that all the
misfortunes of our missions are due to them. It is
the Commandants, It is the Garrisons, who, uniting

lyvrognerie et par une Jmpudicité presque universelles
que lon y a Etablies par une Continuelle
jmpunité de lune et de lautre, que les puissances
Ciuiles ne tolerent pas seulem^t. mais quelles permettent,
puisque les pouuant Empecher elles ne les
empecherent pas. Je ne Crains donc point de vous
declarer que si lon remet jcy haut dans nos missions
des Comandans traiteurs et des garnisons de soldats
traitteurs, nous ne doutons point que nous ne soyons
Contraintes de les quitter ny pouuant rien faire
pour le salut des ames. Cest a vous dynformer sa
Maj^té. de lextremité ou lon nous a reduits, et de luy
demander pour nous notre deliurance afin que
nous puissions travailler a letablissement de la
religion sans les Empechemens, qui lont areté Jusqua
present.

Que si touchée des remontrances que vous luy
ferez elle prenoit le party de ne plus envoyer jcy
haut de garnisons et de Comandans, et quelle voulut
ensuitte Sauoir ce qui seroit le plus auantageux a
nos missions et a la colonie, vous demandez que nous
vous declarions la-dessus nos sentimens, que nous
vous disions sjl voudroit mieux retablir les 25 Congez,
ou Etablir des postes que la Compag^e. entretiendroit
elle meme par autant de personnes quelle
Jugeroit necess^res. quelle Choisiroit et quelle envoyeroit
y f^re. son Comerce. Je vous diray donc premierem^t.
que votre demande supose ce qujl seroit a
desirer de pouuoir ne point suposer, elle supose que
la Colonie doit venir jcy haut faire son comerce
parmy nos sauuages comme elle si est acoutumée
depuis plus^rs. années, mais jl seroit fort a souhaiter
que Ce ne fut point la Colonie qui vint aux sauuages,

with the brandy traders, have completely desolated
the missions by almost universal drunkenness and
Lewdness—which have been Established therein
through the Continual impunity for both vices; the
Civil authorities not only tolerate but permit these,
inasmuch as, while able to Prevent them, they do
not. I have therefore no Hesitation in telling you
that if trading Commandants and garrisons of trading
soldiers be again stationed in our missions up
here, we have no doubt that we shall be Compelled
to abandon them, because we shall be unable to do
anything for the salvation of souls. It is for you to
inform his Majesty of the extremity to which we
are reduced, and to ask him for our deliverance, so
that we may be able to labor for the establishment
of religion without the Hindrances that have
Hitherto impeded it.

And if, touched by the remonstrances that you
will convey to him, he should decide to send garrisons
and Commandants up here no longer, and
should afterward wish to Know what would be most
advantageous for our missions and for the colony,
you ask that we state our opinions to you; that we
tell you whether it would be better to restore the 25
Permits, or to Establish posts which the Company
itself would maintain by means of as many persons
as it might Deem necessary, whom it would Select
and send here to carry on its Trade. [38] I will tell
you, in the first place, that your request takes for
granted what would be very desirable not to suppose;
it assumes that the Colony is to come up here to
carry on its trade among our savages, as it has been
accustomed to do for many years. But it would be
very desirable that the Colony should not come to

et que Ce fut au Contraire les sauuages qui allassent
a la Colonie et qui descendissent a Montreal p^r. y
f^re. leur traitte comme jls ly fesoient au Comencem^t.
au grand profit de tout le peuple qui y participoit et
a qui leur descente Epargnoit touttes les peines que
lon prend presentem^t. et tous les dangers ausq^ls. la
jeunesse sexpose pour Venir dans les diverses nations
djcy haut.

de quelque maniere qu'on regarde le Comerce soit
par raport a lynterest Commun du Canada, soit par
raport a lauancem^t. du Christianisme, Jl seroit Jnfinim^t
plus auantageux p^r. lun et p^r. l'autre que les
sauuages l'allassent f^re. eux memes a montreal par
une descente annuelle que denuoyer les francois jcy
ly f^re de la facon qujls y viennent touttes les Années,
Je ne Croy pas qujl soit necess^re. d'en marquer les
Raisons tant elles sont Evidentes Car Jl est visible
quun tel ne sert qua depeupler le pays de toutte la
jeunesse, qua affoiblir les maisons de monde, qua
priuer les fe^s. de leurs maris, les peres et les meres
du secours de leurs enfans et les sœurs du secours de
leurs freres. qua exposer Ceux qui font les voyages
a mille dangers et du Corps et de lame, qua les
engager a une jnfinité de depenses en partie necess^res.
en partie Jnutiles en partie Criminelles; qua les acoutumer
a ne point travailler et ensuite a se degouter
p^r. toujours du travail et a vivre dans une Continuelle
oisiveté qua les mettre dans lympuiss^ce. daprendre
aucun metier, qua les rendre par la Jnutiles
a eux memes a leurs familles et a tout le public
setant rendus jncapables des ocupãons les plus
Comunes et les plus necess^res. aux hommes; mais Ce
nest pas seulem^t. par ces Endroits la qui regardent

the savages; that, on the Contrary, the savages
should go to the Colony, and go down to Montreal
for their trade—as they did at the Beginning, with
a great profit to all the people who participated
in it,—whom their going down Saved from all the
trouble that is taken at present, and from all the
dangers to which the young men expose themselves
in Coming to the various nations up here.

In whatever light we may consider the Commerce
carried on, as regards either the Common interest
of Canada, or the advancement of Christianity, It
would be Infinitely more advantageous for both if
the savages themselves went down annually for that
purpose to montreal, than it would be to send the
french here to trade, in the way in which they come
every Year. I do not Consider it necessary to give
the Reasons, so Manifest are they. For It is evident
that the latter method serves but to depopulate the
country of all its young men; to reduce the number
of people in the houses; to deprive wives of their
husbands, fathers and mothers of the aid of their
children, and sisters of that of their brothers; to
expose Those who undertake such journeys to a
thousand dangers for both their Bodies and their
souls. It also causes them to incur very many
expenses, partly necessary, partly Useless, and
partly Criminal; it accustoms them not to work, but
to lose all taste for work, and to live in Continual
idleness; it renders them incapable of learning any
trade, and thereby makes them Useless to themselves,
to their families, and to the entire country,
through having made themselves unfit for the occupations
that are most Common and most useful to
man. But It is not only for these Reasons, which

le Corps cest beaucoup plus par Ceux qui regardent
lame que Cet Envoy des francois parmy les sauuages
doit paroitre leur etre Jnfinim^t. nuisible, Cest les
Eloigner de tous les lieux sacrez cest les separer de
touttes les personnes Ecclesiastiques et religieuses
Cest les abandonner a une priuation generalle de
touttes les Jnstructions soit publiques soit particulieres,
de tous les Exercices de piété et enfin de
touttes les assistances spirituelles du Cristianisme
pour les enuoyer dans des pays sauuages et des lieux
presque Ympracticables au trauers de mille dangers
tantost par terre et tantost par eau y f^re. dune maniere
basse seruile et honteuse un Comerce qui se feroit
bien plus auantageusem^t. a montreal et ou le peuple
y auroit beaucoup plus de part (comme jl le deuroit
par justice) qujl ny en a, et qujl ny en aura tandis
q^l. se fera jcy.

Ce qui seroit donc le plus a souhaiter pour deliurer
la Colonie de touttes Ces sortes de maux et du corps
et de lame jnseparablement attachez au comerce djcy
haut, qui a le bien prendre Cause plus de perte que de
gain au pays parcequen moins temps qujl luy aquiert
un peu de Castor jl le priue pour toujours du trauail
de toutte la jeunesse en laccoutumant a ne pouuoir
et a ne vouloir plus Jamais trauailler, Ce qui seroit
dis je le plus a souhaiter, seroit darcher la jeunesse
dans le pays, de ly fixer le plus quon pouroit, de luy
conserver le fruit et la jouiss^ce. de son trauail par la
raison quelle lenrichiroit plus par un trauail Constant
et assidu que par lacquisition difficile, yncertaine et
passagere dun peu de Castor, de sorte que le plus
seur et le plus efficace de tous les moyens pour
mettre la Colonie a son ayse seroit de luy pouuoir

affect this Life,—it is still more on account of Those
which concern the soul, that This Sending of the
french among the savages must appear Infinitely
harmful to them. It Takes them away from all the
holy places; it separates them from all Ecclesiastical
and religious persons; It abandons them to a total
deprivation of all Instruction, both public and
private, of all devotional Exercises, and, finally, of
all the spiritual aids to Christianity. It sends them
into savage countries and into Impassable places,—through
a thousand dangers, both on land and on
water,—to carry on in a low, servile, and shameful
manner a Commerce that could be carried on much
more advantageously at montreal, where the people
would have a much larger share in it (as in justice
they should) than they have, and than they will have
so long as it is carried on here.

Therefore, what would be most desirable for
delivering the Colony from all Those kinds of evil,
both of body and soul, that are inseparably connected
with the trade up here,—which, if viewed in the
proper light, Causes more loss than profit to the
country, because, at the same time when it acquires
some Beaver-skins for the Colony, it deprives it
forever of the labor of all the young men, by accustoming
them to be unable and unwilling to do Any
more work,—What would be most desirable, I say,
would be to keep the young men in the country; to
settle them therein as much as possible, in order to
retain for it the fruit and enjoyment of their labor,
because they would enrich it more by Constant and
assiduous work than by the difficult, uncertain, and
temporary acquisition of a few Beaver-skins. Accordingly,
the surest and most efficacious of all means

assurer la demeure de toutte la jeunesse dans le
pays pour le trauail et la dessente des nations djcy
haut a montreal p^r. le Comerce, parceque le trauail
des uns et le Comerce des autres contribueroit a
lenrichir

Tandis que tous les jeunes gens ne se donneront
point dau. ocupãon que Celle de Venir jcy chercher
le Castor, Jl ne faut pas esperer que la Colonie soit
Jamais a son ayse, elle sera toujours pauure puisque
toujours elle perdra par la Ce qui pouroit le plus
lenrichir, Je veux dire le trauail de toutte la jeunesse.
Voila Mg^r. le moyen que jestime le plus
jmportant pour le bien et Corporel et spirituel de la
Colonie et qujl faudroit le plus representer en Conscience
a sa majesté luy en fesant bien Comprendre
la necessité afin quelle donnat ordre quon trauaillat
a rechercher et a trouuer touttes les voyes possibles
de retablir le Comerce des sauuages et de le fixer a
montreal pour retenir dans le pays toutte la jeunesse,
et p^r. l'accoutumer au trauail des son bas age. Jl
faudroit pour Cela dompter L Jroquois entierement,
se lassujetir et posseder son pays qui vaut beaucoup
mieux que tous Ceux des nations djcy haut, Cest
le seul Ennemy que nous ayions a Craindre et qui
nous dispute le Comerce de nos sauuages qujl veut
attacher a langlois, quelle raison a ton eue de ne le
pas vouloir detruire dans la guerre que lon auoit
entreprise Contre luy, pourquoy la ton voulu Conserver!
que perdroit on en le detruisant etant si peu
nombreux qujl est presentem^t.; sa destruction et la
posession de son pays nous assureront le Comerce
de touttes les nations sauuages djcy haut; Jl ny
auroit plus qua regler les bornes de notre Comerce

to make the Colony prosper would be to secure for
it the settlement within the country of all the young
men, for the sake of their labor, and the descent to
montreal for Trade of the nations up here; because
then the labor of one and the Trade of the other
would contribute to enrich the Colony.

So long as all the young men devote themselves
to no other occupation than That of Coming here for
Beaver, There can be no hope that the Colony will
Ever become flourishing; it will always be poor, for
it will always lose thereby What would most enrich
it,—I mean the labor of all the young men. Such,
Monseigneur, is what I consider the most important
step for the Temporal and spiritual welfare of the
Colony, and what should, in Conscience, be most
strongly represented to his majesty, by making him
thoroughly Understand its necessity,—so that he
may give orders to seek for and to find every possible
means of restoring the Trade with the savages, and
of establishing it at montreal, so as to keep all the
young men in the country, and accustom them to
work from early youth. To This end, The Iroquois
must be completely tamed and reduced to subjection;
and we must take possession of his country, which
is much better than Those of all the nations up here.
He is the only Enemy whom we have to Dread, or
who disputes with us the Trade of the savages, which
he tries to attract to the english. What reason was
there for not consenting to destroy him in the war
that we had undertaken to wage Against him? Why
was he Spared? What would we lose by destroying
him, now that his nation is so small in numbers?
His destruction and the possession of his country
would secure for us the Trade of all the savage

et de Celuy du misissipy pour que lun ne nuisit
point a l'autre. on na Conservé lJroquois dans la
guerre presente que p^r. la traitte de Catarakouy, et
la traitte de Cataracouy netoit que pour Ceux qui
Conservoie^t. Ce fort et Cet ennemy, don vient le
Castor des Jroquois que des terres djcy haut qujl
usurpe sur nos sauuages ausq^ls. tout Ce Castor apartient!
perdrions nous le Castor de lJroquois par
sa destruction, ne reviendroit jl pas a nos sauuages et
d'eux a la Colonie

mais apres tout sjl est jmpossible de fixer le
Comerce de nos sauuages a montreal et Consequamm^t.
de retenir la jeunesse francoise dans leurs
familles po^r sy Exercer au trauail, sil est necess^re.
dune necess^té. absolue et ynsurmontable que Lon
vienne jcy haut f^re. le Comerce parmy nos sauuages
vous demandez dans Cette supõon que Je voudrois.
Etre fausse, leq^l. vaudroit mieux ou de retablir les
25 Congez sans aucuns postes, ou Etablir des postes
sans le 25 Congez. Jauoue franchem^t. que Je me
trouue fort en peine a vous repondre parceque Je ne
Connois pas bien de quelles sortes de postes vous
voulez parler, sont ce des postes seulem^t. de gens de
Comerce sans garnison et sans Comandans, ou des
postes qui seroie^t tenus tout ensemble par des personnes
destinées a f^re. le Comerce, et par des Comand^s.
auec le^r. garnisons quon y veilleroit pour le^r. sureté.
Vous nous marquez la dessus votre sentiment Vous
Jugez qu'jl faudroit Retablir les 25 Congez de trois
hões seulem^t. par Canot, que les particuliers auant
le^r. depart feroient declarãon de Ce q^ls. hões porteroie^t. hões
auec Caution de revenir a la Colonie dans lespace de
18 mois. q^l. hões ny auroit aucun poste Etably par des

nations up here. Nothing would remain to be done
but to settle the boundaries of our Commerce and of
That of the misissipy, so that one might not clash
with the other. The Iroquois has been Spared in
the present war solely on account of the trade of
Catarakouy; and the trade of Cataracouy was only
for Those who Preserved That fort and That enemy.
Whence comes the Iroquois's Beaver but from the
country up here, which he usurps from our savages, to
whom all The Beavers belong? Should we lose the Iroquois's
Beavers by his destruction? Would they not
revert to our savages, and from them to the Colony?

But, after all, if it be impossible to establish the
Trade of our savages at montreal,—and Consequently
to retain the young frenchmen with their
families, that they may Devote themselves to labor;
if it be necessary, of absolute and insuperable necessity,
that They should come up here to Trade with
our savages,—you ask on That supposition, which I
would wish to Be false, what would be best: to
restore the 25 Permits without any posts, or to
Establish posts without the 25 Permits. I frankly
admit that I am very much embarrassed to answer
you because I Know not very well to what kind of
posts you are pleased to refer. Are they posts solely
of Traders, without garrisons and without Commandants;
or posts that would be occupied at the same
time by persons employed in Trading, and by
Commandants with their garrisons, who would watch
over their safety? You express your opinion on that
point. You Consider that it would be necessary to
Restore the 25 Permits, for three men only to each
Canoe; that private individuals should, previous to
their departure, make a declaration of What they

off^ers. et sold. que Chacun feroit valoir Son Canot
Comme jl voudroit, que les mission^res. Chacun dans
sa mission rendroie^t. Compte de la Conduitte des
voyageurs qui sy trouveroie^t., que Ceux qui auroie^t.
donné de leau de vie, ou qui seroie^t. Reconus p^r.
etre des libertins et des debauchez ny reuiendroie^t.
Jamais; quenfin les 25 Congez retablis de la sorte,
Jl ny auroit plus dautres Etablisem^s. ny du detroit
ny de scioux, ny des Jlinois, Cest la votre sentiment
sur leq^l. hões puisque vous le desirez, Jl faut que Je
mexplique Je vous diray donc que Je Connois trop
la jeunesse de Canada a qui les Congez seroie^t.
acordez pour pouuoir Consentir a leur retablissem^t;
Cest une jeunesse accoutumé par une Jmpunité de
plus de 15 ans au Comerce de leau de vie et des fe^s.
Jl ne faut pas esperer quelle puisse desormais
Sabstenir de lun et de l'autre, Je scay bien que le
Comerce de Leau de vie pouroit estre aboly de la
maniere que Je Croy vous lavoir mandé, si Ceux qui
gouvern^t. le pays vouloient son abolition: mais Cest
Ce q^ls. nont point voulu Jusqu'jcy et Ce q^ls. ne veulent
point encore presentem^t., se Contentant de dire
seulem^t. q^ls. deffendent les desordres de leau de vie
et lenyurem^t. des sauuages, sans Jamais dire qujls
deffendent la traitte deau de vie, Comme si Cette
Infame traitte netoit pas la seule action par laquelle
on peut les Enyurer. mais quand Ceux qui gouvernent
le pays viendroient a abolir le Comerce de leau
de vie et Consequem^t. l'Yurognerie des sauuages,
pouroie^t. jls empecher Celuy des fe^s. qui est encore
plus nuisible, plus pernicieux plus funeste a nos
missions que Celuy de leau de vie; Jauoue que si les
25 Congez se pouuoie^t. retablir de la maniere que

took with them, and be Cautioned to return to the
Colony within 18 months; that no post should be
Established by officers and soldiers; that Each one
should make use of His Canoe As he pleased; that
the missionaries, Each in his mission, should Report
on the Conduct of the voyageurs who might go
there; that Those who should give brandy, or be
Known as profligates and debauchees, should Never
return there; finally, that, when the 25 Permits
should be thus restored, There should be no other
Establishments—either at detroit, or among the
scioux, or among the Ilinois. Such is your opinion—respecting
which, as you desire it, I must explain
myself. I will therefore tell you that I Know too
well the young men of Canada to whom the Permits
would be granted, to be able to Consent to their
restoration. They are young men who have become
accustomed, by more than 15 years of Impunity, to
the Commerce of brandy and to that with women.
There can be no hope of their abstaining from either
in future. I know well that the Commerce of brandy
might be abolished in the manner of which, I Think,
I have told you, if Those who govern the country
chose to abolish it; but That is What they have
Hitherto not been willing to do, and What, moreover,
they do not at present wish to do. They are Content
with merely saying that they forbid the misconduct
caused by brandy, and the intoxication of the savages,
without Ever saying that they prohibit the
brandy trade,—As if That Infamous traffic were not
the sole course of action by which the savages can
be made Drunk. But even if They who govern the
country should put an end to the Commerce in
brandy, and Consequently to the Drunkenness of the

vous nous marquez leur retablissem^t a lexclusion de
tous les postes, des Commandans et des garnisons
seroit le meilleur po⁹ nos missions mais un tel Retablissem^t
ne nous paroit possib quen speculãon nous
ne scaurions Croire qujl le soit dans lexecution, par
une jnfinité de raisons que vous pouuez facilem^t voir
sans qujl soit besoin den f^re. aucun detail. quelle
jeunesse peut on renuoyer dans nos missions en
retablissant les 25 Congez que Celle qui sera jugée
le plus Capab. de les f^re. valoir, qui scait les lieux
les manieres et la langue des sauuages, qui Conoist
les personnes, qui a le plus dusage dadresse et de
force pour Conduire les Canots! et nest ce pas aussy
Celle la; et nest ce pas aussy celle la qui est la plus
engagée dans Ces deux jnfames Comerces de leau de
vie et de fe^s. nest ce pas elle qui a perdu nos missions
et qui acheuera de les perdre si on ly renuoye, pour
la Coriger jl y auroit tant de choses a f^re. quon ne
voudra pas Sen donner la peine, Jls se sont servis du
pretexte de diverses necessitez pour Etablir le
Comerce des fe^s., ne Croyant pas que nous pussions
raisonablem^t nous oposer a Ces sortes de besoins et
en effet notre oposition ne seroit pas just sjls ne
demandoie^t. que Certains seruices exterieurs et
publics qui se peuvent rendre sans Crainte daucun
scandale et daucun danger prochain ou ocasion de
pecher, mais comme Cest au Corps meme des fe^s.
qujls en veulent, que Cest luy duq^l. leur passion
brutale se fait la p'pale necessité sous laparente
honeteté des autres, nous sommes obligez de nous y
oposer, et Cest sur touttes Ces sortes de necessitez
pretendues q^l. faudroit les regler pour les empecher
detre Comme elles sont les principes Communs dune

savages, could they prevent That with women—which
is still more harmful, more pernicious, more
fatal to our missions than That in brandy? I admit
that, if the 25 Permits could be restored in the
manner which you indicate, their restoration to the
exclusion of all the posts, of the Commandants, and
of the garrisons would be better for our missions;
but such a Restoration seems to us to be possible
only in theory—we cannot Believe that it can be
carried out in practice, for a multitude of reasons
which you can easily see, without its being necessary
to give them in detail. What young men can be sent
back into our missions, by restoring the 25 Permits,
but Those who will be considered most Competent
to turn them to advantage; who know the places,
the customs, and the language of the savages; who
are Acquainted with the persons; who have the most
experience, skill, and strength in Managing Canoes?
But are not These very young men the same who
are most engaged in Those two infamous Commerces,
in brandy and with women? Are not these young
men the same who have ruined our missions, and
who will complete their destruction if they be sent
back there? So much will have to be done to Correct
them that no one will take the trouble to do so.
They have alleged various necessities for Establishing
the Commerce with women, not Believing that
we could reasonably oppose Such necessities; and,
in fact, our opposition would not be just if they
required only Certain outward and public services
that can be rendered without any Fear of scandal,
or any proximate danger or occasion of sin. But It
is the very Bodies of the women that they desire;
That is what their brutal passion makes their first

jmpudicité uniuerselle a laq^le. Jl nous est ympossible
de remedier par la raison q^ls. la cachent tous Egalement
sous les dehors honestes de leurs necessitez,
qui Etant dailleurs Jnnocentes en elles memes ne le
sont pourtant pas a leur Egard parcequelles leur
seruent de disposition et de preparãon prochaine au
peché. Jl faut vous les marquer en particulier afin
quen ayant Connoiss^ce. vous puissiez donner des
auertissem^s. necessaires a la Cour po^9. y remedier
efficacement en Cas que les 25 Congez vinssent a se
retablir Ce que nous souhaitons qujl nariue pas.

Leur premiere necessité est Celle dauoir des fe^s.
q^ls. Employent a piler du blé p^r. f^re. leur Chaudiere,
et q^ls. tiennent sous Ce pretexte dans leurs maisons
quand jls veulent et autant q^ls. veulent La seconde
est den auoir qui leur Coupent du bois et qui le leur
portent Chez eux p^r. se Chauffer, la trois^e. est dauoir
des blanchisseuses qui du meme temps q^les. blanchissent
dun Costé leur linge, salissent leur Corps et
noircissent leur ame de lau^e. Costé par les plus
honteuses brutalitez, la 4^e. den auoir qui fassent
des souliers sauuages, des Jarretieres des sacqs a leur
facon et a[~u]. choses semblables. Jl y a encore quelques
a[~u]. necessitez moins Comunes et moins ord^res.
que Ces 4 la qui sont les p'pales dont Jls se seruent
p^r. attirer les fe^s. chez eux et p^r. sen f^re. une Raison
daller chez elles quand Jl leur plait

Vous voyez bien Mg^r. que bien q^l. soit vray qujls
peuuent quelques fois auoir besoin du seruice des fe^s.
dans Ces quatre sortes de necessitez, Cependant Jl
est vray aussy d'une a[~u]. part q^les. leur fournissent
tout ensemble et un moyen facile p^r. obtenir le

necessity, under the apparent decency of other needs.
That is what we are obliged to oppose, and It is with
reference to all These kinds of pretended necessities
that rules must be made to prevent them from being,
As they are, the Common sources of universal lewdness.
It is impossible for us to apply a remedy for
this evil, because they all Alike hide it under the
decent pretext of their necessities—which, although
Innocent in themselves, are not in their Case, because
they serve them as a disposition and preparation for
sin. It is necessary to point out these to you in
detail, so that, when you Know them you may give
the necessary warnings to the Court to apply an
effective remedy in the Event of the 25 Permits
being restored, which we trust will not happen.

Their first necessity consists in having women
whom they Employ in pounding corn and doing their
Cooking, and whom they detain under That pretext
in their houses, when they wish and as long as they
wish. The second consists in having some to Cut
wood for them, and to carry it To their dwellings to
Heat them. The third consists in having laundresses
who, at the same time when, on the one Hand, they
wash their linen, on the other defile their Bodies and
blacken their souls by the most shameful brutishness.
The 4th consists in having some women who make
savage shoes, Garters [leggings?], and pouches,
according to their fashion, and other similar articles.
There are also some other necessities, less Common
and less usual than Those 4 which are the chief ones,
of which They make use to lure the women to their
houses, and to give themselves a Pretext for going
to theirs when It pleases them.

Comerce de leur Corps Et un pretexte honeste en
aparence p^r. les f^re. entrer et p^r. les receuoir dans
leurs maisons et une excuse toutte prete pour se
disculper et Eloigner deux les mauuais soubcons
quand on les y trouue, quoy quen effet jls ne les y
attirent et ne les y tiennent que dans des dispositions
den venir a ce qujl y a de plus deshoneste, et de plus
Criminel. Au Reste quoy q^l. ne soit pas difficile de
reconoitre la vanité de Ces faux pretextes, ny d'en
empecher quand on voudra les mauuaises suittes,
Cest pourtant Ce quon na point voulu Reconoitre ny
empecher Jusques jcy. On a laissé Ces pretendues
necessitez syntroduire peu a peu et passer en Coutume,
et la Coutume les a rendues Jnsurmontables
aux mission^res. qui voudroient si oposer Efficacement,
mais dont loposition na point da[~u]. effet que detre
Jnutiles:

Jl faudroit donc pour Retablir les 25 Congez
retrancher touttes Ces necessitez pretendues et tous
les abus que Je viens de marquer si lon veut empecher
q^ls. ne Causent la Ruine de nos missions, Je
veux q^l. soit necess^re. a ceux ausq^ls. on les acorderoit
demployer quelques fois des fe^s. sauuages soit a leur
piler du blé soit a leur aporter du bois soit a blanchir
leur linge soit a le^r. f^re. des souliers, soit enfin a leur
rendre quelqu autre sorte de seruice honeste, quoy-qua
vray dire touttes Ces necessitez tout sont fort
Volontaires a une jeunesse vigoureuse qui se porte
bien qui na rien a f^re. et qui par Cette Raison doit se
donner de loccupãon si elle ne veut vivre dans une
pure oisiueté les années entieres, mais Je veux que
Ce soient en effet des necessitez, Cependant Il nest

it be true that they may sometimes need the services
of women for Those four sorts of necessities, Still
It is also true, on the other hand, that these give
them at the same time both an easy means of obtaining
the Commerce of the women's Bodies, And an
apparently decent pretext for making them enter and
for receiving them in their houses. These also
provide for the men an ever-ready excuse for exculpating
themselves, and for Removing suspicions of evil
from them when they are found there,—although,
in reality, they entice and keep them there only with
the intention of doing with them what is most
immoral and most Criminal. Moreover, although
it be not difficult to recognize the emptiness of Those
false pretenses, or to prevent their evil consequences
when one chooses, the officers nevertheless have not
Hitherto chosen to Recognize the one or to prevent
the other. Those pretended necessities have been
allowed to introduce themselves gradually, and to
become a Custom; and Custom has made them
Insurmountable to the missionaries—who would
Effectively oppose them, but whose opposition has
had no other effect than that of being Useless.

To Restore the 25 Permits, all Those pretended
necessities must be done away with, as well as all
the abuses that I have pointed out, if the government
would prevent them from Causing the Ruin of our
missions. I grant that it may sometimes be necessary,
for those to whom the Permits are accorded, to
have to employ savage women, either to pound corn
for them, to carry wood for them, to wash their
clothes, to make shoes for them, or, finally, to render
them any other kind of honest service,—although,
to tell the truth, all These necessities are purely

pas po⁹ Cela necess^re. que Ces fe^s. sauuages se rendent
Comme par estat leurs domestiques, leurs seruantes,
leurs menageres et leurs Cuisinieres, Cest assez
quapres leur auoir pilé du blé Chez elles, apres leur
auoir Coupé du bois dans la forest, apres auoir blanchy
leur linge au bord du lac, apres leur auoir f^t.
des souliers dans leurs Cabanes, elles aillent porter
tout Cela a Ceux qui les ont employez, quelles en
recoiuent le payem^t. et q^les. se retirent aussitot sans
sarreter plus longtemps dans leurs maisons, tout le
reste nest plus qu une ocasion prochaine de pesher,
qu un principe des plus dangereuses tentations et
ensuitte que desordre que libertinage, que dissol[~u]on
que priuautez que Comerces Jnfames et Criminels
Voila mg^r. Ce q^l. faudroit absolument empecher par
des deffenses Rigoureuses sous peine detre priuez du
pouuoir de la traitte en Cas de Contrauention. mais
Croyez vous qu on le puisse et quon le veille
empecher? Si vous le Croyez si vous en scauez les
moyens, et que vous les suggeriez a la Cour et que
vous fassiez en sorte quelle lempeche, nous consentons
au retablissem^t. des 25 Congez; mais si vous ne
Croyez pas que Cela soit possible dans des lieux tels
que nos missions qui Sont hors de la veue, hors des
prises et hors de la portée des puissances, si vous
nen marquez pas vous meme les moyens a la Cour
et si vous ne lengagez pas a donner des ordres
efficaces pour Cet effet, nous ne scaurions vouloir
quon retablisse les 25 Congez, qui autrement detruiroient
Jnfailliblement nos missions. Je ne Croirois
pas que Ce fut assez de deffendre a tous Ceux qui
auroient Ces Congez de permettre l'entrée de leurs

Optional on the part of robust young men who are
in good health, who have nothing to do, and who,
for That Reason, should give themselves some occupation,
unless they desire to live in perfect idleness
for whole years,—but I insist that They must really
be necessities. Nevertheless, for That purpose It is
not necessary that The savage women should make a
business of being their domestics, their servants, their
housekeepers, their Cooks. It is enough that, after
pounding their corn for them at their Homes, after
Cutting wood for them in the forest, after washing
their linen on the shore of the lake, after making
shoes for them in their own Cabins, the women should
carry all Those articles to The persons who have
employed them, in order to receive payment therefor,
and to withdraw at once, without remaining any
longer in their houses. All else is but a proximate
occasion for sin, the source of the most dangerous
temptations; and it afterward leads but to misconduct,
to licentiousness, to dissoluteness, to improper
liberties, to Infamous and Criminal Commerce.
Such, monseigneur, is What must be absolutely prevented
by Rigorous prohibitions; and by the penalty
of being deprived of the right to trade, in Case of
Contravention. But do you Believe that it can be
prevented, and that there is any desire to prevent
it? If you Believe it; if you know the means of
attaining that end, and suggest them to the Court;
and if you so manage that it shall prevent those
evils,—we consent to the restoration of the 25
Permits. But if you do not Believe that It is possible
in places such as our missions,—which Are
beyond the sight, beyond the influence, and beyond
the scope of the authorities,—if you do not yourself

maisons pour un plus longtemps que Celuy de la
traitte actuelle quils ne deuroient Jamais f^re. auec
elles qua porte ouuerte et de telle sorte quon les y
put voir; mais Je Croirois encore q^l. seroit necess^re,
de Demander aux sauuages et dobtenir deux par un
Colier public quon leur donneroit en plein Conseil,
de ne point souffrir que leurs femmes et leurs filles
allassent Courir dans les maisons francoises, ny
quelles y entrassent que par la seule necessité dy
traitter quelque chose sans sy areter dauentage, et
meme que Jamais elles ny allassent seules mais
toujours accompagnées de quelquautre personne pour
empecher tout Ce qui pouroit donner occasion au mal
ou au scandale.

De plus Comme l jmpudicité ne sest pas Etablie
par la seule liberté que les francois se sont donnez
dadmetre les sauuagesses a toutte heure dans leurs
maisons, mais que Ce qui a le plus Contribué a
l Etablir, Cest la liberté q^ls. ont pris eux memes
daller les Chercher dans leurs vilages, Jusques la
que plusieurs des plus debauchez ne doutent point
de quitter les maisons francoises pour saller loger
auec elles dans leurs Cabanes, Cest encore la un
desordre qui nayant Comancé que depuis le depart
de M^r. de ladurantaye dont les successeurs nont pas
esté si Chastes que luy en sorte que quelquun deux
a plus dun enfant dans Ce village, Cest disje encore
la un desordre qujl faudroit fort particulierement
deffendre pour lempesher de Recomancer.

Quand Je suis venu dans Cette mission si quelqu
un des voyageurs Etoit obligé par quelque necessité
extraord^re. de loger pend^t. quelque temps dans

point out the means to the Court, and if you do not
induce it to give effectual orders to That end, we
cannot consent to the restoration of the 25 Permits,
which otherwise would Infallibly ruin our missions.
I would not Consider it sufficient to prohibit all
Those who may have Permits from allowing women
to enter their houses for a longer time than is
needed for actual trading—which should Never be
carried on with them except with open doors, and in
such a manner that they can be seen within. But I
also Think that it would be necessary to Ask the
savages—and to obtain from them by means of a
Collar, given to them publicly in open Council—not
to allow their women and girls to Roam through the
french houses; or to enter them, save only when
necessary to trade some article, without stopping
there any longer. Indeed, they should even Never
go there alone, but they should always be accompanied
by some other person, to prevent anything
that might give occasion for evil or for scandal.

Moreover, lewdness has become Established not
only through the liberty that the french have taken
of admitting to their houses the savage women at
all hours; but What has most Contributed to Establish
it is the liberty, which they themselves have
taken, of going to Seek those women in their villages.
To such an extent is this carried that many of the
most dissolute do not hesitate to leave the french
houses, and to go to live with the women in their
Cabins. This is, however, an evil that has Begun
only since the departure of Monsieur de ladurantaye,
whose successors have not been as Chaste as he was;
as a result of this, one of them has more than one
child in The village. This is, I say, still another

le village des sauuages Jl en auertissoit le Comandant
et le mission^re. afin quon luy assignat une Cabane
qui ne fut point suspecte pour le pouuoir f^re. sans
aucun scandale: mais nous ne sommes plus dans Cet
heureux temps: les Commandeurs et les traiteurs
Jmpudiques ont pris le dessus sans auoir Egard aux
justes opositions des Miss^res. qui voyent le scandale
sans pouuoir y remedier parceq^e. les Comandans le
soutiennent.

Voicy encore un aű. desordre en Cette matiere qui
est dautant plus grand qu'on le Rend plus visible en
le voulant Cacher Cest q^l. sen trouue plus^rs. dune
ympudicité si excessive et si Continuelle que ne
pouuant soufrir dautre Comp^e. que Celles qui sont
necess^es. a leur passion, Jls se batissent des maisons
separées a eux seuls ou Etant solitaires a legard des
autres francois Jls ne le sont Jamais a legard des
fe^s. dans les temps propres a leur Comerce. Vous
voyez bien que Ce nest pas la un desordre qui se
puisse soufrir tant jl est scandaleux, des traitteurs
qui sont des gens de societé et de Communauté ne
doiuent pas se separer ainsy des autres, de peur que
tout seuls Jl ne leur ariue des accidens qujls ne
Craignent pas, mais qujls devroient Craindre et que
tout le monde doit Craindre pour eux. quon nous
deliure donc pour jamais de Ces solitaires et de leurs
Solitudes.

Enfin le Desordre de tous le plus scandaleux et qui
demande le plus doposition est que les traiteurs
setant acoutumez dans les lieux de traitte a auoir des
femmes a leur Usage, sen sont fait une telle necessité
q^ls. ne scauroient plus sen passer meme dans leurs

kind of misconduct that must be especially prohibited,
in order to prevent its Beginning again.

When I came to This mission, if any voyageur
Were obliged, through any extraordinary necessity,
to lodge for any time in the village of the savages,
He notified the Commandant and the missionary, so
that he might be assigned to a Cabin about which
there was no suspicion, that he might lodge there
without scandal. But we no longer live in Such
happy times. Unchaste Commandants and traders
have obtained the upper hand, without paying any
Heed to the just opposition of the Missionaries—who
witness the scandal without being able to
prevent it, because the Commandants support it.

Here is another evil in connection with This
matter, which is all the greater because it is Made
more visible by trying to Hide it. It is that there
are several who are addicted to such excessive and
Continual lewdness that, as they cannot bear to have
any other Company than That of the women who
are necessary to their passions, They build separate
houses for themselves alone—where, Remaining
solitary as regards the french, They are Never so as
regards the women, at the times suitable for their
Commerce. You see very well that This is not an
evil that can be tolerated, so scandalous is it. Traders—who
are associated together, and have Common
interests—should not live thus, separated from one
another, lest while dwelling alone, accidents might
happen to them which they Fear not, but which they
should Fear, and which every one should Dread for
them. May we therefore be delivered forever from
Those solitaries and their Solitudes.

voyages, Je ne parle point de Celles que lon prend
auec leurs maris ny ayant rien en Cela que dhoneste,
aussy ne sont pas Celles la quon veut auoir ordinairement,
Ce sont des femmes seules, des fe^s. sans leurs
maris, des femmes maitresses de leur propre Corps,
des fe^s. qui peuuent le leur donner et qujls scauent
disposées a le vouloir, en un mot Ce sont touttes les
prostituées de Montreal que lon amene jcy et quon y
remene alternatiuement, et Ce sont touttes les prostituées
djcy ausq^les. on fait f^re. les memes mouuemens
djcy a montreal et de montreal jcy. Cest la
aujourdhuy la maniere ord^re. de leurs voyages qui
ne se font plus que par un flux et Reflux continuel
de Ces prostituées que lon voit monter et descendre,
aller et venir dune mission a lautre sans discontinuation
auec le scandale du monde le plus Enorme et le
plus horrible. le pretexte qujls aportent pour
prendre des femmes plustost que des hommes dans
leurs voyages Cest que les fe^s. leur coutent moins que
les hommes et quelles se contentent dun moindre
payement, Jls disent vray mais Cela meme quelles
se Contentent dun moindre payem^t. est une preuue
Evidente de leur dereglement. si elles Etoient
sages ne deuroient elles pas demander le meme
payem^t. que Celuy des hommes puisquelles rendent
le meme seruice, et q^les. en rendent souuent dauantage
en leur Coupant du bois et en fesant leur Chaudiere
Ce que les hommes ne veulent pas f^re. Ce
nest donc pas la lunique Raison q^ls. ont de prendre
des femmes, mais Cest que Ces fe^s. Etant vicieuses
les veulent pour hóes et eux reciproquem^t p^r. fe^s. dans
tous Ces voyages apres lesquels Sjls sont obligez de

which needs to be most strenuously opposed, is that
the traders have become so accustomed to have
women for their Use in the trading-places, and these
have become so necessary to them, that they cannot
do without them even on their journeys. I do not
refer to Those who are taken with their husbands,
because there is nothing in This that is not decent;
and, consequently, Those are not the ones whose
company is generally desired. I refer to single
women, women without husbands, women who are
mistresses of their own Bodies, women who can
dispose of them to these men, and whom the latter
know to be willing to do so,—in a word, They are
all the prostitutes of Montreal, who are alternately
brought here and taken back; and They are all the
prostitutes of this place, who are carried in the same
way from here to montreal, and from montreal here.
At present this is the usual manner in which their
journeys are carried on; and voyages are no longer
performed without a continual flow and Ebb of That
tide of prostitutes,—whom we see ascending and
descending, going and coming from one mission to
another, without cessation,—to the most Heinous
and loathsome scandal of the people. The pretext
that they usually allege for taking women in preference
to men on their journeys is, that women cost
them less than men, and are satisfied with lower
wages. They speak the truth; but the very Fact of
their being Satisfied with less wages is a Manifest
proof of their dissoluteness. If they Were wise
would they not ask to be paid the same as men, since
they perform the same services—and frequently do
more, by Cutting wood for them and by Cooking their
food, which the men will not do? Therefore that is

Je vous demande jcy Monseig^r. si vous Jugez que
tous Ces desordres dont Je viens de vous f^re. nos
plaintes puissent sabolir en retablissant les 25 Congez,
sjls peuuent sabolir, retablissez les en nous
assurant par des voyes Certaines de leur abolition
mais Si au Contraire vous ne jugez pas quon les
puisse abolir vous devez Juger en meme temps que
les 25 Congez ne doiuent nullement estre Retablis
puisque leur Retablissem^t Causeroit Jnfailliblem^t.
Celuy des desordres.

Or suposé quon ne Retablisse dans nos missions
ny les garnisons et Comandans, ny les 25 Congez
po^9. les Raisons Cy dessus marqueés et que dailleurs
le Comerce des sauuages ne se puisse Retablir ny
etre fixé pour toujours auec assurance a montreal Jl
ne resteroit plus dautre moyen a prendre a la Compag^e.
que denuoyer et dentretenir dans nos missions
djcy haut des personnes Choisies, sages, vertueuses
Jntelligentes, et bien versées dans tout Ce qui regarde
Ce negoce, et enfin parfaitem^t disposées a vouloir
vivre dans une mutuelle Corespondance auec tous les
mission^res. Jusquau nomb quelle Jugeroit necess^re.
et sufisant po^9. f^re. son Comerce, po^9. y attacher
les Sauuages et les y maintenir tant par leur presence
que par celle de leurs marshandises, par leur veue,
par leur transport et par le Debit Continuel qui sen
feroit parmy eux dans un bon fort toujours bien
pouruu et bien fourny darmes po^r. se bien deffendre
et se bien battre auec eux en Cas de necessité, ou
Ceux qui presideroient au Comerce tiendroient lieu

not their sole Reason for taking women; but the reason
is that The women, Being depraved, want them
as men; and they, on their part, want them as women,
on all Their journeys,—after which If they quit one
another, They separate from these only to Seek others.

I ask you here, Monseigneur, whether you Consider
that all These evils, respecting which I have
just submitted our complaints, can be abolished by
restoring the 25 Permits. If they can be abolished,
then restore the Permits; and assure us that the
evils are abolished, by measures that will be Certain
to produce their effect. But If, on the Contrary,
you do not consider that they can be abolished, you
should at the same time Consider that the 25 Permits
must by no means be Restored, since their Restoration
would Infallibly Cause That of lawlessness.

Now suppose that, for the Reasons given Above,
neither the garrisons with their Commandants nor
the 25 Permits are Reëstablished in our missions;
and that the Trade of the savages cannot be Reëstablished
or permanently fixed with certainty at
montreal. There would remain, then, no other
measure for the Company to adopt than to send and
maintain in our missions up here Selected persons,
sober and virtuous, Intelligent, and well versed in
everything connected with That trade,—and, finally,
such as would be fully disposed to live on terms of
mutual Agreement with all the missionaries. These
men should be sent, in whatever number the Company
might Deem necessary and sufficient for carrying
on its Trade, for attaching thereto the Savages,
and for retaining them in it both by their presence
and that of their wares; and by the sight, the transportation,
and the Continual Sale of those wares
among them. The French should be stationed in a

Voila monseig^r. Ce que nous Croyons qui seroit
le meilleur pour nos missions et en meme temps
le meilleur pour les Jnterets de la Comp^e. qui par Ce
moyen seroit assurée dauoir elle seule tout le Castor,
ny ayant plus ny de Comandans, ny de garnison
qui, de quelque precaution que lon pusse user, ne
laissent pas neantmoins den emporter une bonne
partie, par une Jnfinité de voyes secretes et dyntelligences
auec les sauuages: elle seroit encore assurée
par la que les 25 Congez netant point Retablis les
marchandises ne se dissiperoie^t. point en mille fausses
depenses par tout Ce q^l. y a de Libertins dans une
jeunesse Debauchee; Cest a vous a voir apres Cela en
presence de Dieu, et dans lyntime fond de votre
Conscience Ce que vous deuez representer a la Cour
comme le plus expedient et le plus necess^re. Je ne
Dis pas seulem^t. po^r. le Bien de nos Missions et de
la Religion ny seulement po^r. le Bien du Comerce,
mais Je dis pour le bien de lun et lautre, pour le
bien de la religion et du Comerce que vous estes
obligé dacorder ensemble sans Jamais separer lun de
l'autre, en sorte que le Comerce ne nuisse Jamais a
la Religion, qui doit toujours f^re. le p^r. et le plus
essentiel de tous nos Jnterets.

Pour Ce qui Regarde lEtablissement du detroit,
Je nay rien a vous en dire par mes propres lumieres
n'en ayant point de Connoiss^ce. que par le raport des
francois et des sauuages qui nous en parlent jcy. a
en juger par leur raport Ce nest pas un Etablissement
qui leur paroisse etre auantageux, Jls
n'en sont point Contens pour diverses raisons fort

good fort, always well provisioned, and well supplied
with arms for its defense and for successfully
combating the savages in Case of necessity,—where
Those who would have charge of the Trade would on
Such occasions occupy the position of Commandants,
while the others would take the place of the garrisons.

Such, monseigneur, is What we Consider the best
that can be done for our missions, and the best
that can be done in the Interest of the Company—which,
by That means, would be sure to obtain
exclusive possession of all the Beaver-skins. For
there would no longer be either Commandants or
garrisons—who, in spite of all the precautions that
may be taken, nevertheless succeed in obtaining a
considerable portion of the peltries, by an Infinite
number of hidden ways and by secret intelligence
with the savages. The Company would also be
assured thereby that, as the 25 Permits would no
longer be Available, the goods would not be wasted
in a thousand unnecessary expenses by all the Libertines
among a Dissolute youth. It is your duty to
consider, after That, in the presence of God and in
the very depths of your Conscience, What you should
represent to the Court as the most expedient and
the most necessary measures,—I Mean not only for
the Good of our Missions and of Religion, or only
for the Good of the Trade, but for the welfare of
both. I desire the good of both religion and the
Trade, which you are obliged to keep in accord one
with the other, without Ever separating one from
the other,—so that Trade may Never interfere with
Religion, which must ever be the foremost and most
essential of all our Interests.

As Regards the detroit Establishment, I have
nothing to tell you about it of my own knowledge;

Considerables que Jay marquees au R. pere superieur
dans Ce que Je luy Ecris pour ma Justification contre
les accusãons de M^r. de la Motte qui Continue de
me persecuter

Je ne serois pas maintenant dans Cette peine si
Jauois merité dobtenir de vous la grace que je vous
auois demandée denuoyer en Cour la lettre qui Contenoit
nos plaintes en 13 articles p^r. etre presenteé
a Sa maj^té. et p^r. la suplier de nous rendre justice
contre ses Calomnies et ses violences, et de nous
proteger Contre les menaces qujl fesoit des lors
publiquement deuant les francois qui lentendoient
auec Etonnement de perdre nos missions. Je
prevoyois bien qujl Etoit homme a pousser jusqu'en
Cour ses mauuais desseins Comme jl a fait par des
Calomnies, et Comme jl vient de f^re. encore tout
recemment Contre le p. Vaillant, Jauois Cru le deuoir
preuenir pour empecher leffet de ses menaces, et
assurement Je laurois empeché si nos plaintes que
Jauois reduites a 13 articles, et que Je vous auois
adressées, eussent esté portées a sa maj^té selon la
priere que Je vous fesois au nom de tous nos peres,
mais mon malheur ayant voulu que Je ne meritasse
pas de vous Cette grace quelque necess^re. quelle fut
a tous tant que nous sommes de Mission^res. Jl a pris
de la tout lauantage qujl a voulu pour nous accuser
le premier en Cour. Vous aurez apris Ses nouuelles
accusations contre moy sur mes pretendues opositions
a son Etablissement du detroit et vous le pouuez voir
dans ma lettre de justification au R. p. Superieur qui
ne manquera pas de Vous la Communiquer, quoy
que mon jnnocence mempeche daprehender la fausseté
de ses accusations, Jl mest toute fois necess^re.

for I have no Information concerning it, except
through the reports of the french and the savages who
talk with us here about it. Judging from their reports,
It does not seem to them to be an advantageous
Establishment. They are not Satisfied with it, for
various very Important reasons—which I have pointed
out to the Reverend father superior, in What I Write
for my Justification against the charges brought by
Monsieur de la Motte, who Continues to persecute me.

I would not now be in This trouble, had I deserved
to obtain from you the favor that I had asked from
you, that of sending to the Court the letter Containing
our complaints in 13 articles, to be presented to
His majesty,—begging him to do us justice against
the Calumnies and violence of Monsieur de la Motte,
and to protect us Against his threats of ruining our
missions, which he was then publicly uttering in the
presence of the french, who listened to him with
Astonishment. I foresaw very well that he Was a
man capable of carrying his evil designs before
the Court, As he has already done by Calumnies,
and As he has quite recently done Against father
Vaillant. I Thought that I would forestall him, in
order to prevent the effect of his threats; and I
would certainly have prevented it, had our complaints—which
I had reduced to 13 articles, and
which I had addressed to you—been laid before his
majesty, as I had begged you, in the name of all our
fathers, to do. But it was my misfortune not to
deserve That favor from you, however necessary it
might have been for all of us Missionaries. He
thereby derived all the advantage that he desired,
in order to be the first to accuse us before the Court.
You will have learned His recent charges against
me, respecting my pretended opposition to his

que vous fassiez maintenant pour moy ce qui ne sest
pas fait par le passé quoy que vous nayiez pas
enuoyé en Cour ma lettre de plainte, Je ne scaurois
pourtant me persuader que vous layiez meprisée
Jusqua ne vouloir pas du moins la Conseruer pour
vous en seruir dans la suitte a nous rendre Justice en
Cas de besoin. Je vous suplie donc ne doutant point
que vous ne layiez conseruée de vouloir bien la
remetre entre les mains du R. P. superieur a qui
Jay Ecrit pour vous la demander de ma part, Cest
la derniere grace et lunique necessaire que Je puisse
recevoir de vous auant votre depart de Ce pays Je
serois allé moy meme en personne pour vous la
demander sur lobligeante jnvitation que vous et
Madame auez bien voulu me f^re. de Descendre la bas
pour me donner la Consolãon de vous saluer de vous
voir de vous entretenir lun et lautre auant votre
Retour en france ou sa maj^té. vous rapelle pour
lJntend^ce. du Haure et de touttes ses Costes maritimes:
mais letat present de ma mission divisée et
qujl faut que Je Reunisse ne me permet pas de La
quitter dans le temps de sa division pour me procurer
une Consolation telle que Celle la.

Lassurance que vous me donnez de la maniere du
monde la plus obligeante de me Continuer toujours
lhonneur de votre amitié Jusqua vouloir que je vous
Ecrive encore dans lEloignement ou nous allons
estre, tout Ce qui se passera dans Nos Missions, et
que Je vous represente tous les Besoins que nous
pourions auoir de votre secours auec la meme
Confiance que Je vous les ay representez pend^t. les
15 années que le Canada a jouy du bonheur de votre
presence; une telle assurance dis je metoit necessaire

Establishment of detroit; and you may see it in my
letter of justification written to the Reverend father
Superior, who will not fail to Communicate it to
You. Although my innocence prevents my dreading
his false accusations, It is however necessary
for my protection that you should do now what has
not been done in the past. Although you have not
sent my letter of complaint to the Court, I cannot
persuade myself that you should have deemed it so
little worthy of consideration As not to wish at least
to Keep it, so that you might use it in future to do
us Justice in Case of need. Therefore, having no
doubt that you have kept it, I beg you to be good
enough to place it in the hands of the Reverend
Father superior, to whom I have Written to ask you
for it on my behalf. It is the last favor and the only
necessary request that I can ask from you before
your departure from This country. I would myself
have gone in person to ask you for it, on the kind
invitation that you and Madame have been good
enough to send me to Go down below, in order to
give myself the Consolation of paying my respects
to you, of seeing you, and of conversing with both of
you previous to your Return to france—whither his
majesty recalls you, to occupy the position of Intendant
of Havre and of all its Coasts. But the actual condition
of my divided mission, which I must Reunite,
does not permit me to leave It while it is divided,
in order to give myself such Consolation as That.

The assurance which you convey to me, in the
most obliging manner in the world, that you will
always Continue to grant me the honor of your
friendship to the Extent of wishing me still to Write
to you, in spite of the Distance that there will be
between us, about all That shall occur in Our Mis-*

pour adoucir la peine que votre depart me deuoit

Causer et pour me le rendre plus suportable. Vous
souffrirez donc encore mes lettres et si la grandeur
et la multitude de vos occupations vous laisse
quelques momens libres pour pouuoir mhonorer de
vos reponses, Jl ne se peut f^re. quun tel honeur ne
me Cause plus de plaisir que Je nen meritte. Toutte
votre famille, votre personne Celle de Madame Celles
de Mess^rs. vos Enfans et surtout Celle de notre petit
missionn^re. me seront toujours Cheres; Je noublieray
Jamais Ce que Je vous dois, et si Je ne puis pas vous
rendre dautres seruices, du moins Je puis vous assurer
de Celuy des prieres et des sacrifices que joffriray
a dieu a lAutel pour votre Conservãon pour votre
prosperité et pour lheureuse administrãon de votre
Jntendance auec tous les succez que vous pouuez
Souhaiter. Je suis auec toutte lestime et tout le
Respect que vous meritez

Monseigneur,
votre tres humble et
tres obeissant seruiteur,
signé ETIENNE DE CARHEIL
de la Comp^e. de Jesus

Je me suis oublié en parlant de lEtablissement du
detroit de vous dire que pendant tout le temps de la
guerre les sauuages desiroient Cet Etablissement du
detroit parcequalors Jls suposoient toujours qu'on
vouloit detruire lJroquois, et que par sa Destruction
Jls posederoient paisiblement touttes les terres de
son Etendue mais depuis qujls ont veu que bien loin
de le vouloir detruire on ne pensoit qua le menager,
qua le Conseruer qua le favoriser en luy donnant du

*sions, and to inform you of all the Need that we
may have of your assistance,—with the same Confidence
as that with which I have informed you of
them during the 15 years while Canada has enjoyed
the happiness of your presence,—such an assurance,
I say, was needed by me to mitigate the sorrow that
your departure was to Cause me, and to make it more
endurable to me. Therefore you will still bear
with my letters, and, if the extent and multitude of
your occupations allow you a few moments leisure
to enable you to honor me with your answers, such
an honor will surely Cause me more pleasure than
I deserve. The whole of your family—yourself,
Madame, Messieurs your Children, and, above all,
our little missionary—will ever be Dear to me. I
shall Never forget What I owe to you; and, if I can
render you no other services, I can at least assure
you of That of my prayers, and of the sacrifices that
I shall offer to God on the Altar for your Preservation,
for your prosperity, and for the happy administration
of your Intendance, with all the success that
you can Desire. I remain with all the esteem and
all the Respect that you deserve,

Monseigneur,
your very humble and
very obedient servant,
signed, ETIENNE DE CARHEIL,
of the Society of Jesus.

In speaking of the detroit Establishment, I forgot
to tell you that, during the whole time while the
war lasted, the savages desired That Establishment
at detroit; because They always supposed that the
destruction of the Iroquois was desired, and that by
his Destruction They would peaceably enjoy all the

terrain dans les terres q^ls. regardoient Comme leur
propre pays et en Retablissant le fort de Cataracouy
en sa faueur, Jls ont entierement Changé de
penseés et ne regardent plus le Detroit que Comme
le pays Ennemy ou jls ne peuvent Vouloir demeurer
ny ayant nulle senorité pour eux et assurement jls
ne peuvent penser ny juger autrement; de sorte que
Ceux des hurons qui restent Jcy et qui ne veulent
pas aller au detroit, se defient de Ceux qui sont allez
s'y Etablir, et Croyent qujls veulent s'aller Rendre
a lIroquois pour entrer dans le Comerce des Anglois.

lands in his Country. But since they have found
that, far from wishing to destroy him, we thought
only of sparing and Preserving him; of befriending
him, by giving him land in what they considered
As their own country; and by Restoring the fort of
Cataracouy for his benefit,—They have completely
Changed their minds, and no longer look upon
Detroit in any other light than That of an Enemy's
country, where they can have no Wish to dwell, and
where there can be no security for them. And
assuredly they cannot think or judge otherwise; so
that Those of the huron nation who remain Here,
and who do not wish to go to detroit, mistrust Those
who have gone to Settle there, and Think that they
intend to go there in order to Surrender to the
Iroquois, so as to join in the Trade with the English.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA: VOL. LXV

CLXIX

This document is an account of the missions of the Society in Canada during 1696. It is apparently written by Jacques de Lamberville, but is without indication of either place or date. Shea published it as the opening chapter in No. 20 (so enumerated by Lenox Library) of his Cramoisy series, of which the following is a description:

Title, verso blank, 1 leaf; Avant Propos, signed by Shea, p. (1); contents, on verso; text, pp. 7-73; no colophon. Frequently bound in with Nos. 21 and 22 of the series—Bigot's Relation de la Mission Abnaquise de St. François de Sales l'Année 1702 (New York, 1865); and Gravier's Lettre of February 23, 1708 (New York, 1865).

We follow a MS. in the Manuscripts Department of the Library of Congress, at Washington, D. C. This, with several other Jesuit missionary MSS., some originals and some contemporary apographs, was purchased for the library from the collection of the late Peter Force.

CLXX

We obtain François de Crépieul's "La Vie d'vn Missionaire Montagnaix" (dated April 21, 1697) from the MS. volume in the archiepiscopal archives of Quebec, described in the Bibliographical Data for Vol. LXIII. of our series, under Doc. CLVII.

CLXXI

This document consists of two letters written by Jacques Gravier to Bishop Laval—the first from Montreal, September 17, 1697; the second from Michillimackinac, September 20, 1698. The former we obtain from the original MS. at Laval University, Quebec; the latter, from L'Abeille, vol. 7, no. 13.

Shea has published the French text of both of these letters: the first-named, in No. 20 of his Cramoisy series—described under Doc. CLXIX. above, pp. 23-28; the second, in No. 15 of that series, pp. 63-66, of which the following is a description:

Title, with attestation on verso of number printed, 1 leaf; table, verso blank, 1 leaf; Avant-Propos, signed by "J. M. S.," p. (1); verso, with Note on St. Cosme, signed "J. B. F.;" text (six documents), pp. 9-66; colophon: "Achevé d'imprimer le 17 Mai, 1861," with verso blank, 1 leaf.

CLXXII-CLXXIV

All three of these documents we take from Shea's Cramoisy series No. 20, described under Doc. CLXIX. above. They consist of: A letter of Julien Binneteau to a brother Jesuit, written from the Illinois country in 1699 (apparently in January); a letter from Gabriel Marest to another Jesuit, also from the Illinois, April 29, 1699; and another from Jacques Bigot to a brother Jesuit, from the Abenaki country (apparently on October 26), 1699. We have been unable to trace the whereabouts of the original MSS.

CLXXV

The original MS. of Jacques Gravier's journal of his tour down the Mississippi (written from Fort de Mississipi, in February, 1701) rests in the archives of l'École de Ste. Geneviève, in Paris, its press-mark being "Canada Divers, tome II, doc. 6." This MS. we follow in the present publication.

Shea published this document in one of his Cramoisy series, of which the following is a description:

Title, with attestation on verso of number printed, 1 leaf; contents, verso blank, 1 leaf; text, pp. 5-67; "Note" on p. 68; colophon, with verso blank, 1 leaf. The colophon reads: "Achevé d'Imprimer par J. Munsell, à Albany, d'après l'original, restant à la maison Professe de Paris, ce 31 Aoust, 1859."

In the Lenox Library Catalogue of the Shea series, this volume is numbered 11; but, in the volume itself, Mr. Lenox called it No. 12. As has frequently been explained in these bibliographical notes, the Lenox numbering, while adopted by us as convenient for reference, is wholly arbitrary. This publication was issued in both large- and small-paper editions, the former being upon fine writing-paper; Lenox Library has No. 1 of four such copies printed. The whole number printed of the Relation, professes to have been 100.

As above stated, Shea's publication of the French version of Gravier's voyage was made in 1859. Two years later, he published an English translation in the following work:

Half-title: "Munsell's Historical Series No. viii.," with verso blank, 1 leaf; title, verso blank, 1 leaf; dedication: "To the Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa Historical Societies, as a token of membership, this volume is offered by John Gilmary Shea," with verso blank, 1 leaf; preface, pp. vii., viii.; contents, verso blank, 1 leaf; introduction, pp. vi.-xi. (a repetition of pagination); text, with half-titles, pp. 13-175; p. 176 blank; appendix, pp. 177-179; p. 180 blank; index, pp. 181-188; list of subscribers, pp. 189-191.

CLXXVI

The original MS. of this report upon the revenues of the Jesuits, drafted at Quebec, October 4, 1701, rests in the archives of the Ministère des Colonies, at Paris, the press-mark being "Église de Canada, vol. 106, carton 11, folio 48." We follow the original.

CLXXVII

We also follow the original MS. of this letter of Etienne de Carheil to Louis Hector de Callières, governor of Michillimackinac, dated August 30, 1702. It rests in the Archives Nationales, at Paris, its press-mark being "Carton M. 204."

A portion of this letter is given in Orhand's life of Carheil—Un Admirable Inconnu (Paris et Lille, n.d., but subsequent to 1886).

An apograph of the original, made for Father Jones by a professional copyist attached to the Archives Nationales, is in the archives of St. Mary's College, Montreal. For the present publication, however, we have preferred to follow our own transcript.

NOTES TO VOL. LXV

(Figures in parentheses, following number of note, refer to pages of English text.)

NOTES:

[1]

(p. 27).—This woman was Susanne Gouentagrandi; see Milet's account of her kindness to him during his captivity (vol. lxiv., pp. 77-83, 89, 93, 105).

[2]

(p. 29).—Regarding Frontenac's last expedition against the Iroquois, see his official report thereof, and "Narrative of the most remarkable occurrences in Canada, 1695-96" (N. Y. Colon. Docs., vol. ix., pp. 639-657). Cf. La Potherie's Hist. Amer. Septent., t. ii., pp. 270-282; N. Y. Doc. Hist., vol. i., pp. 323-355; and Parkman's Frontenac, pp. 410-417.

[3]

(p. 33).—Joseph Seré de la Colombière, a Sulpitian priest, came to Canada in 1682. When recalled to France by his superiors (1691), he left the Sulpitians; but he returned to Canada in the following year, at the same time as Bishop St. Vallier, and was a prominent ecclesiastical official there during the rest of his life. He died at Quebec, July 18, 1723.

Guillaume Seré de la Colombière came, when a student for the priesthood, to Canada, where he was ordained in February, 1698. He was then appointed chaplain to the General Hospital at Quebec, a post which he retained until his death, Oct. 22, 1713, aged thirty-nine years.—Langevin's Biog. Laval, p. 272; Gosselin's Henri de Bernières, p. 131; St. Vallier et l'Hôpital Général (Quebec, 1882), p. 711.

[4]

(p. 41).—There were at Quebec two merchants of the same name, François Hazeur, father and son. The former, whose wife was Marie Provost, had four children; the two daughters became Hospital nuns. He died in 1685, at Montreal.

The elder of his sons, François, was born in 1638, and in 1672 married Antoinette Soumande, by whom he had fourteen children. He died in June, 1708; he was then a member of the supreme council. Two of his sons became priests—Pierre, ordained in 1700; and Thierry, ordained in 1706.

[5]

(p. 53).—It will be remembered that St. Vallier was now bishop of Canada, in place of Laval (vol. lxiii., note 10).

[6]

(p. 53).—Concerning the appointment of Allouez as vicar-general in the West, see vol. lvi., note 8 (where read "vicar-general" instead of "grand vicar"). Shea thinks that the same dignity was conferred upon Marquette in 1672, when about to begin his exploration of the Mississipi (Church in Col. Days, p. 313). Gravier was appointed thereto in December, 1690 (but the Seminary priest Montigny, during 1698-1701); Mermet succeeded to the office, apparently in 1707; and, ten years later, Dominique Marie Varlet (Ibid., pp. 535-538, 543, 544, 555). From the jurisdiction of the latter were, however, excepted the Jesuits, who were directed by their own superior.

[7]

(p. 61).—In the autumn of 1698, missions among the Western Algonkins were opened by the Séminaire des Missions Étrangères (vol. xlv., note 1; vol. lii., note 4; vol. lxiv., note 22). For this enterprise were selected François Jolliet de Montigny, Antoine Davion, and Jean François Buisson (Bisson) de Saint Cosme. The two former bore nearly half of the expenses for their outfit, which cost nearly 10,000 livres. From the outset, there was, very naturally, more or less friction between them and the Jesuits, upon whose field the seminary priests had thus intruded. The latter carried on various missions, mainly among the tribes on the lower Mississippi; but their efforts showed little result, except at Cahokia, where a considerable number of French families had settled. By 1721, the work of the seminary priests had entirely ceased in the Mississippi Valley.

Montigny came from Paris to Canada, and was ordained at Quebec in 1693; he was for some time director of the Ursuline convent there. After two years spent in the Louisiana mission (1698-1700), Montigny returned to France; he became a missionary in China, where he labored with much success until 1710. Thereafter he resided at Paris as director of the Missions Étrangères, and died in 1725, aged 64 years.

St. Cosme was a Canadian, born at Quebec in February, 1667. He was ordained at the age of twenty-three, and, after doing missionary work at Mines, in Acadia, was sent to the Mississippi, where he labored at Cahokia and Natchez, successively. While on a voyage down the river, he was assassinated by a band of Chetimacha savages, near the end of the year 1702 (following Pénicaut, in Margry's Découv. et établ., t. v., p. 433; but 1706, according to La Harpe, Journ. Hist., p. 101). He had a cousin bearing the same name as his own, and also a priest, who remained in Quebec—born in 1660, ordained in 1683; he died in 1712.

[Pg 263]

Davion located his residence among the Tonicas, at a place now known as Fort Adams, Miss.; he remained there until 1708, when his mission became endangered by hostile savages, and he withdrew to Mobile. In 1725, Davion returned to France, where he died, Apr. 8, 1726.

Julien Binneteau (Binteau) was born at La Flèche, March 13, 1653, and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Paris, Sept. 7, 1676. He was a student at La Flèche in 1680-81, and at Paris in 1685-89; the rest of the period 1678-90 was spent as instructor at Rouen, Nevers, Amien, and Caen, successively. In 1691, he came to Canada, and two years later was serving the Acadian mission. Rochemonteix says (Jésuites, t. iii., pp. 538, and 539, note 1) that Binneteau spent two years at St. François de Sales; and that he then went to Michillimackinac, and thence (1696) to Kaskaskia. He remained in the Illinois mission until his death, which occurred (according to Rochemonteix, Jésuites, t. iii., p. 541) Dec. 24, 1699. The hardships which cost him his life are described by Marest—Lettres édifiantes (Toulouse ed., 1610), t. vi., p. 274; see our vol. lxvi., p. 253.

[8]

(p. 73).—The assimines here mentioned were the fruits of the papaw (Asimina triloba); the piakimines, those of the persimmon (vol. lix., note 32). Cf. vol. lxiv., note 21.

[9]

(p. 73).— Allusion is made to the opossum (Didelphys Virginiana).

[10]

(p. 87).—The Abenaki village referred to was Naurakamig, as written by Vincent Bigot (Rochemonteix's Jésuites, t. iii., pp. 438-439, note); or Narankamigouk, by Rale (Maine Hist. Colls., vol. iv., p. 102). It was established by that Father in 1698, in order to provide a suitable location for teaching them agriculture. He was replaced by his brother Jacques, in September, 1698.

[11]

(p. 101).—This removal of the Kaskaskia tribe from their old home (vol. lix., note 42; vol. lxiv., note 28) was to the site of the modern village of Kaskaskia. These savages at first intended to migrate to the vicinity of Iberville's new post in Louisiana; but Gravier induced them to remain at the above place. The village was called by them Rouensac, after their chief Rouensa; the Jesuit mission therein was named for the Immaculate Conception. A French trading post was soon established here; most of the traders and voyageurs took Indian wives, and thus formed the nucleus of the village of Kaskaskia.—See N. Y. Colon. Docs., vol. ix., pp. 886, 891; Shea's Church in Colon. Days, pp. 544, 557-559; Doherty's "Kaskaskia the Ancient," U. S. Cath. Hist. Mag., vol. iv., pp. 31-45; Wallace's Illinois and Louisiana under French Rule (Cincinnati, 1893), pp. 198-205.

The appellation "Illinois du détroit" is explained by Mermet (vol. lxvi., doc. clxxx.,), as referring to the Peorias. As Lake Peoria is but an expansion of the Illinois River, the phrase "du détroit" probably alludes to the narrowing of the river at the lower end of the lake, where their village was located.

Jacques Gravier was born at Moulins, France, May 17, 1651; he was educated at the Jesuit college there, and entered the novitiate of the order at Paris, Oct. 29, 1670. An instructor at Hesdin during 1672-77, and at Eu and Arras in 1678-80, his studies were pursued at Paris until 1684; and in the following year he came to Canada. He spent a year at Sillery, and in 1686 was sent to Michillimackinac. Two years later, he succeeded Allouez in the Illinois mission, where he remained (except a few years, ca. 1695-98, during which he was superior at Mackinac) until, late in 1705, he was seriously wounded by an arrow, shot at him by a revengeful savage. His fellow-missionaries attempted to cure him, and afterward sent him to Mobile for medical treatment; thence he went (late in 1706) to Paris, with the same object. In February, 1708, he came back to America, hoping to continue his mission labors; but he died soon afterward (April 23), apparently from the effects of his wound, which had proved incurable. Gravier was a missionary of great ability and efficiency, and an excellent linguist; a dictionary of the Illinois language, supposed to have been compiled by him, was in the possession of the late J. H. Trumbull.

[12]

(p. 103).—The settlement of Cahokia was begun not long before that of Kaskaskia (note 11, ante), apparently by the settlement there of the Tamaroas, an Illinois tribe; its name is that of another tribe of that nation, also written Kaoukia (vol. lxiv., note 29).

The savages were quickly followed by a French trading post, and by a Jesuit missionary, Pinet (vol. lxiv., note 22), and a Seminary priest, St. Cosme. The latter apparently remained here but a short time, and was succeeded by Jean Bergier—who, after Montigny's departure (1700), became superior of the Mississippi missions. His headquarters were at Cahokia, where, it is probable, he died. This event occurred, according to Shea (Church in Colon. Days, p. 551), Nov. 9, 1707.

The Metchigamea were living near the mouth of Arkansas River when visited by Marquette in 1673 (vol. lix., pp. 151, 153).

[Pg 265]Canada at the first opportunity, and was sent to the Western missions.

Gabriel Marest was born at Laval, France, Oct. 14, 1662; and became a Jesuit novice at Paris, Oct. 1, 1681. He was an instructor at Vannes during 1682-88, and a student at Bourges and Paris during five years more. In 1694, he came to Canada, and was at once sent to Hudson Bay with Iberville (vol. lxiv., notes 19, 25). As he relates in a letter to Lamberville (vol. lxvi., doc. clxxxi.), he was captured there by the English in the following year, and taken to England; but was afterward sent back to France. He returned to Canada at the first opportunity, and was sent to the Western missions. From 1698, he ministered to the Kaskaskias, accompanying them in their removal to the Mississipi; he devoted himself to the civilization as well as the religious instruction of this tribe, taught them to cultivate the soil and raise domestic animals, and rendered them the most industrious and peaceable of the Western savages. Gravier states, in a letter to the general (vol. lxvi., doc. clxxxii.), written in 1707, that the Kaskaskia village then numbered 2,200 souls; and that all of these, except 40 or 50, professed Christianity. Marest was also an accomplished linguist, as we learn from the statements of his fellow-missionaries; but no MS. of his is known to exist. He died in his mission, Sept. 15, 1714 (not 1715, as in Shea). The circular letter announcing his death, written by Mermet, is in the archives of l'École de Ste. Geneviève, Paris; and an apograph of it is in St. Mary's College, Montreal.

[13]

(p. 103).—Paul du Rue (Ru) was born at Vernon, France, October 6, 1666. At the age of twenty, he entered the Jesuit novitiate. He acted as instructor at Quimper, Vannes, and Nevers during 1688-94, and then studied at Paris for five years. Iberville, making his second voyage to Louisiana (in the autumn of 1699), brought with him Du Rue, who had been selected by his superiors to found a mission in that new colony; he also acted as chaplain to the French at Biloxi and Mobile. With his colleague Joseph de Limoges, who came a year later, he labored among the savages dwelling in Mississippi and in Louisiana south of the Red River; while the Seminary priests carried on their missions among the tribes north of that stream. The latter priests requested that they be allowed to enter the Jesuit field of labor, but independently of the Jesuits. Du Rue thereupon went to France (1702) in order to oppose this project, which was supported by Bishop St. Vallier. No satisfactory settlement of the affair could be reached; and the Jesuits in Louisiana were therefore recalled by their superiors in the following year. Du Rue remained in France, where he acted in the capacity of a preacher and missionary; he died at Rouen, March 30, 1741.

[14]

(p. 105).—Miaramigoua: the Maramec, a river of Missouri, 150 miles long, discharging its waters into the Mississippi, 19 miles below St. Louis; it flows through a country abounding in mines of lead, iron, and copper. These mines, it is said, "gave rise to the famous Mississipi scheme, 1719."

[15]

(p. 109).—Louis Michel Duhemme, dit Terrien, was born at Three Rivers, in 1671. He married, and had a son; but nothing further is known about him.

[Pg 266]

[16]

(p. 109).—Tanguay records the birth (1665) of Pierre Chabot, son of Mathurin; but gives no other information regarding this son.

[17]

(p. 115).—This Rivière à Mayot (Margot, on most maps) is apparently that now known as Wolf River, which falls into the Mississippi just above Memphis, Tenn. From it, by portages, there was easy communication with the Tombigby River, upon the upper waters of which the Chickasaw Indians were then located.

[18]

(p. 115).—Joseph de Limoges, born at Vannes, France, Sept. 19, 1668, entered the Jesuit novitiate at Paris, upon reaching the age of eighteen. An instructor at Amiens, and a student at Paris (at each, five years), he came to Canada in 1698; and, two years later, joined Du Rue (note 13, ante) in Louisiana. He there maintained a mission among the Houmas, near the mouth of Red River. Recalled to France in 1703, he died in his native town, Jan. 30, 1704—mainly from grief at the loss of his mission, according to Rochemonteix (Jésuites, t. iii., p. 587).

The Taogria (Taogarios) are mentioned by La Harpe (Journ. Hist., p. 81) as "settled upon the Casquinambo [Tennessee] River, which flows into the Ouabacho [Ohio];" he adds that these savages had killed five Frenchmen (in the summer of 1703), "at the instigation of some Englishmen who were carrying on the trade which they had established with that nation." The Taogria would appear to be some migrating band of the Shawnees (vol. xlvii., note 9). As early as 1699, the French learned that the English of Virginia and North Carolina had found their way across the Alleghanies, and were trading with the Choctaws and Chickasaws. The Taogria village is indicated on several maps (that of Senex, 1710; De Fer, 1718; and others) as far up the Tennessee.

[19]

(p. 117). —Regarding the piakimine, see note 8, ante.

[20]

(p. 117).—The Arkansas tribes here mentioned have been regarded by some writers as now extinct; but Dorsey states (Amer. Naturalist, vol. xx., p. 216) that he has found "members of them still existing." He regards them simply as villages of the Kwapa tribe: Kappa (Quapaw) is U-ga'-qpa-qti, "real Kwapas;" Tourima (Thoriman of Joutel), Ti-u-a'-d^dhi-maⁿ'; Sitteoü (Otsote), U-zu'-ti-u'-hi,—when scientifically expressed in the nomenclature of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology.

For account of these and other Siouan tribes,—their habitat, history, organization, customs, etc.,—see McGee's "Siouan Indians," and Dorsey's "Siouan Sociology," in U. S. Bur. Ethnol. Rep., 1893-94, pp. 157-244.

[21]

(p. 121).—Our MS. has plus de 28 ans; Shea corrects the figures to "27," which is correct, as Marquette's voyage occurred in 1673.

[Pg 267]

[22]

(p. 125).—Cf. Marquette's description of the calumet and its dance, vol. lix., pp. 129-137, and notes 27, 29; and Allouez's, vol. li., pp. 47, 49.

There is in the archives of St. François du Lac (the Abenaki mission near Three Rivers) an unpublished MS. volume by the Jesuit missionary Jacques (Eustache, according to Charlevoix) le Sueur (in Canada from 1716 to 1760), dated 1744, which contains a curious chapter on the "History of the Calumet and of the Dance." From this it appears that the calumet dance was introduced, about 1720, among the Abenakis of St. François de Sales, whom the Fox Indians of Wisconsin were then endeavoring to seduce from their French alliance. The missionaries used all their efforts to suppress it, but it obtained a strong foothold among the Abenakis. This chapter on the calumet dance was printed in Soirées Canadiennes, vol. iv. (1864), pp. 111-135.

[23]

(p. 129).—The "river of Tounika" was the Yazoo River, in Mississipi. On its banks were several Indian villages in 1700, the Tonicas (Tounikas) dwelling nearest its mouth. Half a century later, they were located on the east shore of the Mississipi River, south of Red River. By 1817, most of the tribe had ascended the latter stream to Avoyelles, 90 miles from its mouth.

The Ounspik are, more correctly, Ouispes or Oussipés,—the name applied to them by Iberville and Pénicaut. Yakou (?yashu, "a leafy tree") seems to indicate a tribe bearing the same name as the river.—See Gatschet's Migration Legend of the Creek Indians (Phila., 1884; no. iv. of Brinton's "Library of Aboriginal American Literature"), pp. 39-41, 97-99. This valuable work is a careful, detailed, and scholarly study of the aboriginal ethnography of the Gulf region between the Carolinas and Texas; it is probably the best authority now extant upon this subject.

[24]

(p. 133).—In regard to the manufacture of pottery among these tribes, see vol. lix., note 40. Cf. Peabody Museum Reports, 1875; pp. 18-21, 28-45; 1878, pp. 317-328, 343-360.

The canes so often here mentioned by Gravier are the stems of Arundinaria macrosperma—a tall, woody grass allied to the bamboo. It grows throughout the Southern States, forming dense "cane-brakes."

[25]

(p. 137).—The Taensa tribe were located in what is now Tensas county, La., on the east side of the Mississippi. When Iberville visited them (1700), they had seven villages, grouped around a lake, probably Lake St. Joseph. Soon afterward, part of these people removed to the vicinity of Mobile. This tribe is now extinct.

[Pg 268]formed in their vicinity; but this was resented by the savages, who

The Naktche (Natches) had nine villages, at the place where now stands the city of Natchez, Miss. A French settlement was early formed in their vicinity; but this was resented by the savages, who in November, 1729, massacred the white colonists. The French, in retaliation, attacked the Natches, and drove them from their homes (February, 1730). The remnants of the tribe fled far eastward, and were afterward incorporated with the Creeks; a small band are now living in Indian Territory.—See Gatschet, ut supra (note 23).

Brinton says (Amer. Race, p. 89): "Within the horizon of the Muskoki stock [the Creeks, as also the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, and other tribes] were a number of small tribes speaking languages totally different. We may reasonably suppose them to have been the débris of the ancient population who held the land before the Muskokis had descended upon it from the north and west." Within this group he includes the Natchez, Taensas, Tonicas, Chetimachas, and others.

[26]

(p. 141).—The book here referred to was published at Paris in 1697, under the title Dernières découvertes dans l'Amérique Septentrionale de M. de la Sale; Mises au jour par M. le Chevalier Tonti. Cf. Charlevoix's Nouv. France, t. i., pp. 460, 464; t. ii., p. 260. Margry has published two genuine relations by Tonty, dated 1684 and 1693 (Découv. et établ., t. i., p. 573).

[27]

(p. 151).—The Humas (Houmas) were a Cha'hta (Choctaw) tribe located on the east side of the Mississippi, seven leagues above the mouth of Red River. In 1699, they numbered about 350 families. "They once claimed the ground on which New Orleans stands, and after the Revolution lived on Bayou Lafourche." "The limit between the lands occupied by the Huma and the Bayogoula was marked by a high pole painted red, which stood on the high shores of Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, La."—See Gatschet's Migration Legend, pp. 103, 114, 115.

[28]

(p. 157).—There is much confusion among historical writers about the identity of the Canadian explorers in the South, named Juchereau de St. Denis. As well as can be determined by the data now available, it was Charles, son of Nicolas Juchereau (vol. xxxiv., note 5), who established a trading post and tannery (in the autumn of 1702) near the mouth of the Ohio, probably at or near the site of the later Fort Massac. He died there about two years afterward.—See La Harpe's Journ. Hist., pp. 75, 88, 89; Margry's Découv. et établ., t. v., pp. 349-352, 357, 363-368, 438.

[Pg 269]

With Iberville came to Louisiana (1700) a brother of Charles Juchereau—Louis, born in 1676. He was a trusted lieutenant of Iberville and Bienville, and was sent by them on several expeditions to Mexico; for several years he was commandant of Fort Mississipi; and he explored much of the region tributary to the Lower Mississippi and Red rivers. He learned many Indian languages, and had great influence among the savages. He participated, with much distinction, in the capture of Pensacola, in 1719; for this he was made captain of a military company, and made governor of the fort at Natchitoches. French states (La. Hist. Colls., new ser., p. 84, note) that in 1726 St. Denis returned to Montreal, where he died; but Tanguay makes no mention of Louis Juchereau beyond the date of his birth; so it is improbable that he died in Canada. Charlevoix states (Nouv. France, t. ii., p. 498) that in 1731 St. Denis was besieged at his fort by the Natches whom he defeated. In 1714 he married a Spanish girl whom he met on one of his Mexican expeditions—Doña Maria de Vilescas. Tanguay ascribes this marriage to Joseph Charles, son of the Charles above mentioned; but Joseph was only eighteen years old at the time of the marriage, and there is no evidence that he was in Louisiana at that time. The time of Louis's death is not recorded.

The savage peoples named in our text are the southern tribes of the Pani (Pawnee) stock, which extended from the Platte River to the Gulf of Mexico. The Kadodakio are now known as the Caddoes; Iberville found them (1699) on the Red River; one of their villages was Nactythos (Natchitoches). The Senis (Cenis) are the Assinais (Assiné); their location was in Central Texas. The Kiouahaa (Kiouahau) are the Kiowas, located on the upper waters of the Canadian-Arkansas River.—See Gatschet's Migration Legend, pp. 42-44; and Brinton's Amer. Race, pp. 95-97, 101, 102.

The fort built by Iberville—Fort Mississipi, also called Fort La Boulaye—was situated at a point 54 miles from the Gulf. Its site is marked upon Jefferys's map of the Mississippi River (1759), and others.—See Winsor's Miss. Basin, pp. 50-52, 75.

[29]

(p. 159).—The tribes here mentioned belonged to the Cha'hta (Choctaw) nation. Gatschet mentions their migrations to the west side of the Mississippi "at an early epoch, no doubt prompted by the increase of population. The Cha'hta emigrating to these western parts were looked at by their countrymen at home . . . as outcasts, on account of the turbulent and lawless elements which made up a large part of them." Among these were the Humas (note 27, ante); the Bayogoulas (Baiougoulas) and Mugulashas (Mougoulachas), who lived together in one village, situated on the west shore of the Mississippi, 64 leagues from the sea; the Biloxis, "of whom scattered remnants now live in the forests of Louisiana, south of the Red River;" and the Acolapissas (Kolapissas, Quinipissas), in the region northwest to northeast of New Orleans. All, save the Biloxis, are now extinct.—See Gatschet's Migration Legend, pp. 103, 109-113.

[Pg 270]

[30]

(p. 165).—Bilocchi is the modern Biloxi, Miss. In 1699, Iberville erected here Fort Maurepas. It proved to be a barren and insalubrious location, and the colony was removed to Mobile in January, 1702.—See maps of D'Anville, De Lisle, Jefferys, and other cartographers of 18th century; also reproductions of these in Winsor's Miss. Basin, pp. 59, 75, 423, 425, 448.

A Spanish colony had settled at Pensacola in 1696. The place was twice captured by the French, under Bienville, in 1719; but it was restored to Spain in 1721, when the war between that country and other European powers came to an end.

[31]

(p. 167).—Sauvole de Villantray was a lieutenant under Iberville; many writers say that he was a brother of the latter, but this seems improbable. He was commandant at Fort Maurepas, but died there in August, 1701 (according to La Harpe, Journ. Hist., p. 35; but in the April following, as given by Pénicaut). A letter by him (dated April 1, 1700), written at Biloxi, is published by Margry (Découv. et établ., t. v., pp. 447-462).

[32]

(p. 173).—Reference is here made to the encounter by Bienville (Sept. 15, 1699) of an English ship on the Mississippi, near the present New Orleans, which belonged to an expedition sent out by Daniel Coxe, who had bought the patent of "Carolana,"—a grant made in 1627, by Charles I. of England, to Sir Robert Heath. Gravier's account indicates the pretensions already made by Englishmen to the first discovery of the Mississipi River.

The "apostate" of whom Gravier speaks, and his "relation of the Mississipi," refer to Hennepin's book, Nouvelle Decouverte d'un tres grand Pays Situé dans l'Amerique (Utrecht, 1697), and an English version, A new Discovery of a Vast Country in America (London, 1698), which were dedicated to King William of England. See bibliography of this author's works in Dionne's Hennepin (Quebec, 1897).

[33]

(p. 177).—La Salle (vol. lvii., note 2; vol. lxiii., note 30) set out from his Texas colony in January, 1687, with a party of sixteen Frenchmen and one Shawnee savage, intending to go to Canada by way of the Mississippi and Illinois, in order to secure relief for his suffering colonists. While en route, La Salle was murdered by some disaffected followers—at a place on the southern branch of the Trinity River. The priest mentioned by Gravier was Father Anastase Douay, a Recollet, who had come from France with the explorer. The Frenchmen at Biloxi were probably deserters from La Salle's forces, who had gone to live among the savages.—See Parkman's La Salle, pp. 396-446; and Sulte's "Mort de Cavelier de la Salle," in Canad. Roy. Soc. Proc., 2nd ser., vol. iv., sec. 1, pp. 3-31.

[Pg 271]

[34]

(p. 179).—Shea's publication of this document adds, at the end, a copy of the Latin inscription upon a cross erected in 1700 by the Jesuit Du Rue near the French fort on the Mississippi. The claim of priority in discovery is therein made for the French.

"The Mobilians seem to be the descendants of the inhabitants of Mauvila, a walled town, at some distance from the seat of the Tuscalusa chief, and dependent on him. These Indians are well known for their stubborn resistance offered in 1540 to the invading troops of Hernando de Soto. Subsequently they must have removed several hundred miles south of Tuscalusa River, perhaps on account of intertribal broils with the Alibamu [Alabamas]."—Gatschet's Migration Legend, p. 110.

[35]

(p. 185).—The phrases cens et rentes and lods et ventes are not translated, in legal usage. The former means a special ground-rent (in money or in kind), payable by a censitaire to his seignior; the latter was a due payable to the seignior on each sale or transfer of property. The rente amortissable means a rent redeemable by payment of the capital in installments. Terre du domaine means land in the occupancy of the lord of the manor.—Crawford Lindsay.

The pension of 5,000 livres to the Jesuits in Canada was begun in 1647 (vol. xxxvi., note 57).

[36]

(p. 201).—C. M. Burton's excellent biographical sketch of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (Detroit, 1895) is apparently the most detailed and accurate one thus far published; and we follow it in giving the following outline of his life. The place and date of his birth are not accurately known; but his father was a councilor in the parliament of Toulouse, and Antoine's birth occurred probably between 1657 and 1661. As a young man, he served in the French army; and in 1683 he came to America, and settled at Port Royal. A correspondent (T. P. Hall, of Detroit) raises an interesting query as to a possible kinship between Cadillac and the De la Mote who was La Saussaye's lieutenant in the Mount Desert colony captured by Argall in 1613: but there are no available data for determining this. Cadillac married Marie Thérèse Guyon, at Quebec, June 25, 1687; by her he had thirteen children. In 1688, he received from the Canadian government a grant of land in Maine—the island of Mount Desert, and a tract of four square leagues on the opposite mainland. In 1690 and 1691, he lost all his property through incursions by the English; he then settled at Quebec, and received from Frontenac an appointment in the colonial troops. From 1694 to 1697, he was commandant at Michillimackinac; on his return to Quebec, he laid before the government his plan for a French fort at Detroit. After various delays, this was accepted; and Cadillac established that post in the summer of 1701. He also sent for families to go thither, desiring to establish a permanent colony; and he soon established a thriving and prosperous village. At first, the fur trade was placed in the hands of the Compagnie du Canada, or "Company of the Colony;" but in September, 1705, they surrendered the trade, in accordance with orders from the king, to Cadillac, who enjoyed this privilege during five years. He was appointed governor of Louisiana in 1710, but did not arrive there until 1712. He remained there about five years, and apparently went to France in 1717. Little is known of his subsequent life; he died in France, Oct. 18, 1730.

[Pg 272]

Regarding the establishment and early history of Detroit, see Burton's Cadillac's Village (Detroit, 1896); Whittlesey's "Indian Affairs around Detroit in 1706," in West. Reserve Hist. Soc. Tracts, vol. i., no. 8 (reprinted in Beach's Ind. Miscellanies, pp. 270-279); and articles by R. R. Elliott in U. S. Cath. Hist. Mag., vol. i., pp. 345-365; vol. iii., pp. 264-273; vol. iv., pp. 113-124.

Cadillac, during his entire residence at Mackinac and Detroit, was engaged in quarrels with the Jesuits—partly because they claimed to be entirely independent of his authority, partly because of their opposition to the liquor-traffic. For their correspondence with him, his memorials and letters regarding affairs in that region, and various official documents, see Margry's Découv. et établ., t. v., pp. 133-346.

[37]

(p. 215).—For many years,—since at least 1660,—the fur trade had been illegally carried on by wandering Canadian trappers and voyageurs, who were commonly termed coureurs de bois, "wood-rangers." Laws against this illicit traffic were enacted by the French government, but they were seldom effective; and it was openly charged that the Canadian governors and other officials were in collusion with the coureurs de bois, and sharers in their profits. In May, 1681, royal edicts granted amnesty to those who had disobeyed these laws; and the governor was authorized to grant twenty-five licenses for the fur trade, forbidding all other persons to engage therein. Each licensed person was allowed to send out twenty-five canoes, with three men to each canoe. These licenses (permits) also proved inadequate to suppress illegal traffic, and they were revoked by the king in 1696. They were restored in 1716, again revoked in 1719, and reissued in 1726. Regarding these matters, and the value and conditions of the fur trade at that period, see Édits et Ordonnances (1854), pp. 248-250, 341, 350, 401, 481, 504; Cadillac's and Callières's "Mémoires," in Margry's Découv. et établ., t. v., pp. 138-156; N. Y. Colon. Docs., vol. ix., pp. 152-155. 159, 160, 211, 214, 408, 662, 954, 958; and Turner's admirable monograph "The Fur Trade in Wisconsin," in Wis. Hist. Soc. Proc., 1889, pp. 52-98—afterward amplified in Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, vol. ix., nos. 11, 12. 1889, pp. 52-98—afterward amplified in Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, vol. ix., nos. 11, 12.

[Pg 273]

[38]

(p. 217).—Reference is here made to the "Compagnie de la Colonie du Canada," or "Compagnie de la Nouvelle France"—an association formed in Canada, in 1700, to secure the monopoly of the Western fur trade. Cadillac was one of their number; but apparently he did not expect that they would control the trade of his new settlement at Detroit. To this he was obliged to yield, until 1705 (note 36, ante). Regarding this company, see Margry's Découv. et établ., t. v., pp. 172-203, 301-336, 360-367; and Burton's Cadillac, pp. 17-20.

FOOTNOTES:

[Af] on delibera d'aller aux Oiogwens. Monsieur le gouverneur et Monsieur de Calliere en etoient d'avis mais on prit le parti de revenir au lieu de pousser jusquà Oiogwen ce qui auroit bien avancé la paix.

[Ae] It was a question whether they should go to Oiogwens. Monsieur the Governor and Monsieur de Calliere were of that opinion; but it was decided to return instead of pushing on to Oiogwen, which would have greatly furthered peace.

Small errors in punctuation and obvious printer's errors have been corrected without comment. Typographical errors are listed below. To the maximum extent possible, the original orthography, spelling and grammar have been retained.

Footnotes identified as Af and Ae, for example. Endnotes appear in English only, and are numbered.

Every attempt has been made to maintain page-to-page correspondence between the French and English versions.

Editor	Reuben Gold Thwaites

Assistant Editor	Emma Helen Blair
Bibliographical Adviser	Victor Hugo Paltsits

I.	Reduced facsimile of MS. missionary map of country northwest of Lake St. John, P. Q., made ca. 1695	Facing 44
II.	Facsimile of handwriting of François Vaillant de Guélis, S. J., first missionary of Detroit; selected from a MS. in the archives of St. Mary's College, Montreal	Facing 186

CLXIX.		—Les affaires de Canada en 1696. (With later memoranda.) [Jacques de Lamberville]; n. p., [1696-97]
CLXX.		—La Vie d'vn Missionaire Montagnaix presentée aux Successeurs Montagnaix pour Leur instruction et pour leur plus grande consolation. François De crepieul; La Mission de s^t Xauier á chegȣtimÿ, 21 Auril, 1697

CLXXI.		—Deux lettres du P. Jacques Gravier à Monseigneur de Laval. A Ville-Marie, le 17^e Septembre, 1697; de la mission de St. Ignace a Michilimakinak, ce 20 septembre, 1698
CLXXII.		—Lettre du P. Julien Binneteau, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie. Du pays des Illinois, [Janvier,] 1699
CLXXIII.		—Lettre du P. Gabriel Marest, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie. Du pays des Illinois en la Nouvelle-France, le 29 Avril, 1699
CLXXIV.		—Lettre du Père Jacques Bigot, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie. Du pays des Abnaquis, [26 Octobre,] 1699

CLXXV.		—Relation ou Journal du voyage du Pere Gravier, de la Compagnie de Jesus en 1700 depuis le Pays des Illinois Jusqu'a l'Embouchure du Fleuve Mississipi. Du Fort de Mississipi a 17. Lieües de sa decharge dans le Golfe ou mer Mexique, Le 16^e. Feuvrier 1701
CLXXV.		—Les Revenus des Jésuites en Canada, 1701. Martin Bouvart, François Vallant; Pierre Rafaix; Quebec, ce 4^e Octobre, 1701
CLXXVII.		—Lettre du R. P. Étienne de Carheil à M. Louis Hector de Callières, gouverneur. A Michilimakina, le 30 d'aoust, 1702

Preface to Volume LXV		11
documents
CLXIX.	Les affaires de Canada En 1696. (With later memoranda.) [Jacques de Lamberville;] n.p., [1696-97]	24
CLXX.	Le Vie d'un Missionaire Montagnaix presentée aux Successeurs Montagnaix pour Leur instruction et pour leur plus grande consolation. François De crepieul; Chegoutimÿ, April 21, 1697	42
CLXXI.	Deux lettres à Monseigneur de Laval. Jacques Gravier; Ville-Marie, September 17, 1697, and Michilimakinak, September 20, 1698	52
CLXXII.	Lettre à un Père de la Compagnie de Jésus. Julien Binneteau; du Pays des Illinois, [January,] 1699	64
CLXXIII.	Lettre à un Père de la Compagnie de Jésus. Gabriel Marest; du Pays des Illinois, April 29, 1699	78
CLXXIV.	Lettre à un Père de la Compagnie de Jésus. Jacques Bigot; du Pays des Abnaquis, [October 26,] 1699	86
CLXXV.	Relation ou Journal du voyage en 1700 depuis le Pays des Illinois Jusqu'à l'Embouchure du Fleuve Mississipi. Jacques Gravier; Fort de Mississipi, February 16, 1701	100
CLXXVI.	Les Revenus des Jésuites en Canada, 1701. Martin Bouvart, François Vallant, Pierre Rafaix; Quebec, October 4, 1701	180
CLXXVII.	Lettre à M. Louis Hector de Callières, gouverneur. Étienne de Carheil; Michilimackina, August 30, 1702	188
Bibliographical Data: Volume LXV		255
Notes		261

Le Roy par sa liberalité nous donne en Canada pour le soutien de nos missions chez toutes les nations estrangeres de ce pays dans l'estendüe de 7. a 800 lieues une pension sur l'estat de	5000	livres
De plus par gratiffication sur les droits d'entrée	315.
Item pour le 3^e. Regent du College de Quebec	400.

The King in his liberality gives us in Canada, for the maintenance of our missions among all the foreign nations of this country, in an extent of 7 to 800 leagues, a pension from the state of	5000	livres
And, besides, in a gratuity from the custom-duties	315
Item, for the 3rd instructor at the College of Quebec	400
There is also a charitable donation, a gift made by His Majesty to the Abnaquis and the iroquois converted to the faith, to assist the orphans, widows, old people, And poor, from which neither we nor the missionaries who have charge of Those savages have profited in any manner. This gift and alms amounts to	1,500

LE REVENU DE NOSTRE PROPRE BIEN A QUEBEC

Notre maison de la basse ville est loüéé	300
Celle de la hautte ville est loüéé	120.
Notre moulin attenant au College sans frais extraordinaires peut donner de reuenu	300.
Une petite terre vis a vis de quebec a la Coste de lauzon	30.
La terre de nostre Dame des anges ou jl y a moulins, meteries cens et rentes et passages sur la petite Riuiere S^t. Charles	1205.
La Seigneurie de Sillery a cause des rentes des tenanciers de la pesche d'anguilles et d'un moulin environ	250.
La Terre de S^t. gabriel dont le sol est presque partout steril et jngrat environ	40.
La Seigneurie de Batiscan en rentes seigneurialles et pour le moulin environ	300.
Le Cap de la Magdelaine qui est une terre sabloneuse sans bois de chauffage, sterile et abandonnéé presque de tous les habitans qui s'y estoient establis peut produire	160.
La petite terre des trois Riuieres environ	60.
La Prairie de la magdelaine et de S^t. lambert ou jl y a moulin, terre du domaine et rentes de quelques tenanciers qui ont resté et presque tous Ruinez par la guerre des jroquois	385.
Le Casuel soit en lots et ventes ou vieilles dettes ou autres choses semblables	280.

THE REVENUE FROM OUR OWN PROPERTY AT QUEBEC.
Our house in the lower town is rented at	300
That in the upper town is rented at	120
Our mill close by the College may, unless there be unusual expenses, yield a revenue of	300
A little piece of land opposite Quebec, at Coste de Lauzon	30
The estate of nostre Dame des anges, where there are mills and farms, cens et rentes, and tolls upon the little River St. Charles	1,205
The Seigniory of Sillery, on account of the rents from the tenants, the eel-fisheries, and a mill, about	250
The Estate of St. gabriel, the soil of which is almost everywhere sterile and unprofitable, about	40
The Seigniory of Batiscan, in seigniorial rents and for the mill, about	300
Cap de la Magdelaine, which is a sandy piece of land, without trees for firewood, sterile, and abandoned by nearly all the habitans who had established themselves there, may yield	160
The little piece of land at three Rivers, about	60
La Prairie de la magdelaine, and [the parish] of St. lambert, where there is a mill and domain, and rents from some tenants who have remained and are almost all Ruined by the iroquois war	385

Notre reuenu en france frais faits et charges payéés que nous receuons icy peut monter pour le plus a	4000.
	______
Ainsy tout le Reuenu des peres jesuites de Canada peut se monter a la somme de	13145

The Perquisites in either lots [lods] et ventes, or old debts, or similar matters	280
Our revenue in france, expenses and charges defrayed, which we receive here, may amount, at the most, to	4,000
	______
Thus all the revenues of the jesuit fathers of Canada may amount to	13,145

THE JESUIT RELATIONS

AND

ALLIED DOCUMENTS

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents

TRAVELS AND EXPLORATIONS OF THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES IN NEW FRANCE

1610-1791

THE ORIGINAL FRENCH, LATIN, AND ITALIAN TEXTS, WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS AND NOTES; ILLUSTRATED BY PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND FACSIMILES

EDITED BY

REUBEN GOLD THWAITES

Secretary of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin

Vol. LXV

LOWER CANADA, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

1696-1702

CLEVELAND: The Burrows Brothers Company, PUBLISHERS, MDCCCC

Copyright, 1900 by The Burrows Brothers Co.

all rights reserved

The Imperial Press, Cleveland

EDITORIAL STAFF

CONTENTS OF VOL. LXV

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. LXV

PREFACE TO VOL. LXV

CLXIX, CLXX

DOCUMENTS OF 1696-97

Les affaires de Canada En 1696

Canadian affairs In 1696.

[Memoranda attached to the document:]

1697

1697.

Mr. Hazeur 1697

[Memoranda attached to the document:]

1697.

1697.

MONSIEUR HAZEUR 1697.

La Vie d'vn Missionaire Montagnaix presentée aux Successeurs Montagnaix pour Leur instruction et pour leur plus grande consolation

par Le p. François De crepieul Jésuite et Seruiteur inutil des Missions du canada depuis 1671 iusqu'a 1697—qui acheue le 26 hiuernement dans L'Emplois de La Mission de Tadoussak, et le 4e á La Mission de st Xauier á chegȣtimÿ 21 Auril 1697—

The Life of a Montagnaix Missionary, presented to his Successors in the Montagnaix mission for Their instruction and greater consolation.

By father François De crepieul, Jesuit, and an unprofitable Servant of the Missions of canada from 1671 to 1697,—which completes the 26th wintering in The Service of The Tadoussak Mission, and the 4th at The Mission of st. Xavier,—at chegoutimÿ, April 21, 1697.

CLXXI—CLXXIV

Documents of 1698-99

Deux lettres du P. Jacques Gravier à Monseigneur de Laval.

Two letters by Father Jacques Gravier to Monseigneur de Laval.

Lettre du P. Julien Binneteau, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie.

Letter of Father Julien Binneteau, of the Society of Jesus, to a Father of the same Society.

Lettre du P. Gabriel Marest, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie.

Letter of Father Gabriel Marest, of the Society of Jesus, to a Father of the same Society.

Lettre du Père Jacques Bigot, de la Compagnie de Jésus, à un Père de la même Compagnie.

Letter of Father Jacques Bigot, of the Society of Jesus, to a Father of the same Society.

CLXXV—CLXXVII

Documents of 1701-1702

Relation ou Journal du voyage du Pere Gravier, de la Compagnie de Jesus en 1700 depuis le Pays des Illinois Jusqu'a l'Embouchure du Fleuve Mississipi

écrit au Pere de Lamberuille et Envoyé du Fort de Mississipi a 17. Lieües de sa decharge dans le Golfe ou mer Mexique Le 16e. Feuvrier 1701

Relation or Journal of the voyage of Father Gravier, of the Society of Jesus, in 1700, from the Country of the Illinois To the Mouth of the Mississipi River.

Written to Father de Lamberville and Sent from Fort Mississipi, 17 Leagues from its discharge into the Mexican Gulf or sea, on The 16th of February, 1701.

Les Revenus des Jésuites en Canada,

1701.

Revenues of the Jesuits in Canada,

1701.

LE DEPENSÉ

Script reproduction of the financial statement

THE EXPENDITURES.

Lettre du R. P. Étienne de Carheil à M. Louis Hector de Callières, gouverneur.

Letter by Reverend Father Étienne de Carheil to Monsieur Louis Hector de Callières, governor.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA: VOL. LXV

CLXIX

CLXX

CLXXI

CLXXII-CLXXIV

CLXXV

CLXXVI

CLXXVII

NOTES TO VOL. LXV

NOTES:

FOOTNOTES:

TRAVELS AND EXPLORATIONS
OF THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES
IN NEW FRANCE

THE ORIGINAL FRENCH, LATIN, AND ITALIAN
TEXTS, WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
AND NOTES; ILLUSTRATED BY
PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND FACSIMILES

CLEVELAND: The Burrows Brothers
Company, PUBLISHERS, MDCCCC

Copyright, 1900
by
The Burrows Brothers Co.

M^r. Hazeur 1697

par Le p. François De crepieul Jésuite et Seruiteur inutil des
Missions du canada depuis 1671 iusqu'a 1697—qui acheue
le 26 hiuernement dans L'Emplois de La Mission
de Tadoussak, et le 4^e á La Mission de s^t
Xauier á chegȣtimÿ 21 Auril 1697—

By father François De crepieul, Jesuit, and an unprofitable
Servant of the Missions of canada from 1671 to 1697,—which
completes the 26th wintering in The Service of The
Tadoussak Mission, and the 4th at The Mission of
st. Xavier,—at chegoutimÿ, April 21, 1697.

écrit au Pere de Lamberuille et Envoyé du Fort de Mississipi a 17. Lieües de sa decharge dans le Golfe ou mer Mexique Le 16^e. Feuvrier 1701