662 , [Assembly 



teaux and canoes, and strengthened by two pieces of artillery j. 

 which they transported to the remotest hamlets of the Iroquois. 



Intimidated by the power of this armament, the Mohawks 

 abandoned their fortified villages, and " these barbarians were 

 enly seen on the mountains at a distance, uttering great cries and 

 firing some random shots"* Havisg planted the cross, cele- 

 brated mass, and sung the " Te Deum." on the spot, " all that re- 

 mained was to fire the palisades and cabins, and to destroy all 

 the stores of Indian corn, beans^ and other products of the coun- 

 try found there. ^'* The retreat of the French, from this abortive 

 attempt, was deeply calamJtous. Forts were erected at Sorel and 

 Chambly to protect the province from the incursions of the Iro- 

 quois by the lake. 



The Mohawks, wily as powerful, were, by tlieir habits and po- 

 sition, intangible ; no blow could reach them. Suddenly burst- 

 * ing, in 1G89, with great force into Canada, they beseiged and cap- 

 tured Montreal, and menaced the empire of New France with 

 utter extinction. This movement averted a contemplated attack 

 mpon New- York by Frontenac through Lake Champlain, and 

 ©fa fleet by sea. 



In the ensuing winter an event occurred, pre-eminent even in 

 the atrocities of that warfare, for its deliberate and ferocious ci'uelty . 



The people of Schenectady, that village, whose Christian char- 

 ily had saved the forces of De Courcelle fiom an appalling fate^ 

 reposed in a profound security. Although warned of impending 

 danger, they had relied lor protection upon the intense severity 

 ©f the season, and an unprecedented depth of snow. 



A band of French and Hurons, conducted by ruthless parti- 

 zans, precipitatmg themselves in a march of twenty-two days- 

 along the Champlain valley, fell, in a winter's midnight upon 

 this doomed and undefended hamlet. A common ruin involved 

 the entire population. The blood of many mingled with the 

 ashes of their dwellings. Others, half clad, fled to Albany amid 

 the cold and snow, while others were borne into a hopeless capti- 

 vity. 



* Freroh report.- 



