No. 112.] 657 



As they advanced soffly and noiselessly they encountered 

 " a war party of the Iroquois, about 10 o'clock at night, at the 

 point of a cape that puts into the lake at the west side." I deep- 

 ly regret, that I am unable to insert unabridged, the unique and 

 graphic description* by Champlain of the incidents and conflict 

 which ensued. They are pourtrayed in language, so simple, clear 

 and descriptive^ that v/e feel as if the eye rested upon the spec- 

 tacle. We almost contemplate the cool and chivalric postpone- 

 ment of the battle, by mutual consent to day-light ; the night 

 spent in the war songs and chaunts of triumph and defiance; 

 the skill and cunning of the Hurons, in disguising the presence of 

 their potent allies ; the marshaling of the hostile bands, the 

 lofty forms of the Iroquois chiefs, decorated with their waving 

 plumage and distinguished by their " arrow proof armor 

 made of cotton thread and wood ;" their astonishment, not 

 un mingled with boldness at tl>e sudden apparition of the 

 Euiopeans ; the intrepid Frenchman advancing, alone in front of 

 the Hurons; the awe and consternation with which the Iroquois 

 see the flash of the arquebus, hear the report, and behold their 

 chieftains slain as if by the thunder bolt. The victory in such a 

 conflict was necessarily with the allies of the white man. 



Champlain places the site of this battle " in 43 degrees and 

 some minutes," and evidently within the vicinity of Ticoude- 

 roga-t 



It is a singular coincidence, and may it not be regarded as 

 significant of the presence and retribution of an overruling Provi- 

 dence, that the tirst aboriginal blood, shed by the Christian inva- 

 der, and shed ruthlessly and in wantonness was on the soil which 

 in another age, was destined to witness the sanguinary ihuugh 

 fruitless conflicts of the mightiest i)owers of Christendom fur the 

 possession of the same territory ; that both moistened with their 

 choicest blood, and wliich neither were permitted permanent- 

 ly to enjoy. 



•Documentary Ilutory, vol. 3, page 7. 



f I confidently assume this position, allhoiigh a aomcwhat controverted point, from Ui» 

 distinct designation of the place upon Champlain's own map. I foci a.isured on the subject by 

 several other ci^nsiderations, which I deem conclusive. IIo probably saw the falls at Ticonde- 

 lOga, in the pursuit which succeeded tho victory. 



[Ag. Tr '53 J n n 



