248 THE IROQUOIS. . [1642 



told her story to Father Buteux, who translated it 

 into French, and gave it to Vimont to be printed 

 in the Relation of 1642. Revolting as it is, it is 

 necessary to recount it. Suffice it to say, that it is 

 sustained by the whole body of contemporary evi- 

 dence in regard to the practices of the Iroquois and 

 some of the neighboring tribes. 



The conquerors feasted in the lodge till nearly 

 daybreak, and then, after a short rest, began their 

 march homeward with their prisoners. Among 

 these were three women, of whom the narrator 

 was one, who had each a child of a few weeks or 

 months old. At the first halt, their captors took 

 the infants from them, tied them to wooden spits, 

 placed them to die slowly before a fire, and feasted 

 on them before the eyes of the agonized mothers, 

 whose shrieks, supplications, and frantic efforts to 

 break the cords that bound them were met with 

 mockery and laughter. "They are not men, they 

 are wolves ! " sobbed the wretched woman, as she 

 told what had befallen her to the pit}dng Jesuit.^ At 

 the Fall of the Chaudiere, another of the women 

 ended her woes by leaping into the cataract. When 

 they approached the first Iroquois town, they were 

 met, at the distance of several leagues, by a crowd of 

 the inhabitants, and among them a troop of women, 

 bringing food to regale the triumphant warriors. 

 Here they halted, and passed the night in songs of 

 victory, mingled with the dismal chant of the prison- 

 ers, who were forced to dance for then* entertainment. 



On the morrow, they entered the town, leading 



1 Vimont, Relation, 1642, 46. 



