24 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Kaniinistiquia. July 32ncl, arrivai at Michilimakinak. August 3rd, 

 departure for Montreal." 



In The Aulneau Collection axe a number of letters bearing upon 

 the Lake of the Woods massacre. They have ptarticular reference to 

 the death of Father Auneau, or Aulneau as it is always here spelled. 



The first of these letters is from Father Nicholas de Gonnor ^ to 

 a correspondent in France.^ After some personal remarks he says : — 



" Another reason for writing you is, to beg you to break as gently 

 as possible to Father Aulneau's mother, the news of the death of her 

 dear son, who, we have learnt but lately, was massacred last May by a 

 party of wandering Indians, called the Sioux of the Prairies, while he 

 was journeying from his own to another mission, with the intention 

 of going to 'confessio'n and of seeking advice on trO'Uibles to which his 

 extreme delicacy of conscience had given rise. He is universally 

 regretted by both the members of the Society and by seculars, for he 

 was universally esteemed. . , . 



" He was surprised with twenty other Frenchmen, but it is not 

 known how they were put to death. No premonitory sign of distrust 

 on the part of the Indians was «noticed, nor were the victims tortured, 

 as they are wont to be when prisoners are taken in battle. It is con- 

 jectured that they were surprised while asleep, and received their death 

 blow unawares. The heads of all were then severed from the bodies. 

 " It is said, however, that from the position in which the Father's 

 body was found, he must have been on his knees when he was 

 decapitated, and one of the party who found him took possession of his 

 calotte, remarking that poor as he was, he would not part with it for 

 a thousand crowns." .... 



In 1739, Father du Jaunay, w^riting from Michilimakinac to 

 Madame Aulneau, adds the following particulars: — * 



" Concerning the circumstances accompanying the death of your 

 dear son, here is what I have learnt from hearsay, and siome of my 

 sources of information seem trustworthy. 



^ Father .Nicolas de Gonnor, according to a (footnote at page 25 of The 

 Aulneau Collection, belonged originally to the Province of Aquitaine. He was 

 born November 19, 1691, and entered the Society of Jesus, September 11th, 

 1710. He came to Canada in 1725. In 1727 he was sent to the Sioux mission, 

 and afterwards he was stationed some time at Sault St. Louis.. In 1749 he 

 had returned to Quebec; thence he was once more sent to the Sioux, where 

 he was superior in 1752. He Temained there until 1755, when he was trans- 

 ferred to Montreal, and the folLowing year to Quebec, where he died, December 

 16, 1759. His Indian name was ISarcnItvs. 



^ The Aulneau Collection, pp. 87-89. 



' The skull-cap sometimes worn by clergy of the Church of Rome. 



* Aulneau Collection, p. 110-111. 



