PREFACE. -Vii 



lished, in 1858, by the Canadian government, in 

 three large octavo volumes.^ 



These form but a part of the surviving writings 

 of the French-American Jesuits. Many additional 

 reports, memoii's, journals, and letters, official and 

 private, have come down to us ; some of which 

 have recently been printed, while others remain in 

 manuscript. Nearly every prominent actor in the 

 scenes to be described has left his own record of 

 events in which he bore part, in the shape of re- 

 ports to his Superiors or letters to his friends. I 

 have studied and compared these authorities, as 

 well as a great mass of collateral evidence, with 

 more than usual care, striving to secure the great- 

 est possible accuracy of statement, and to reproduce 

 an image of the past with photographic clearness 

 and truth. 



The introductory chapter of the volume is inde- 

 pendent of the rest ; but a knowledge of the facts 

 set forth in it is essential to the full understanding 

 of the narrative which follows. 



Tn the collection of material, I have received 



1 Both editions — the old and the new — are cited in the following 

 pages. Where the reference is to the old edition, it is indicated by the 

 name of the publisher (Cramoisy), appended to the citation, in brackets. 



In extracts given in the notes, the antiquated orthography and ac- 

 centuation are preserved. 



