1643.] MORE PILGRIMAGES. 267 



the fort, which, moreover, was in danger of inun- 

 dation ; and the hospital was accordingly built on 

 higher ground adjacent. To leave it unprotected 

 would be to abandon its inmates to the Iroquois ; it 

 was therefore surrounded by a strong palisade, and, 

 in time of danger, a part of the garrison was de- 

 tailed to defend it. Here Mademoiselle Mance took 

 up her abode, and waited the day when wounds or 

 disease should bring patients to her empty wards. 



Dauversiere, who had first conceived this plan 

 of a hospital in the wilderness, was a senseless 

 enthusiast, who rejected as a sm every protest of 

 reason against the dreams which governed him ; 

 yet one rational and practical element entered into 

 the motives of those who carried the plan into exe- 

 cution. The hospital was intended not only to 

 nurse sick Frenchmen, but to nurse and convert 

 sick Indians ; in other words, it was an engine of 

 the mission. 



From Maisonneuve to the humblest laborer, these 

 zealous colonists were bent on the work of convei 

 sion. To that end, the ladies made pilgrimages to 

 the cross on the mountain, sometimes for nine days 

 in succession, to pray God to gather the heathen 

 into His fold. The fatigue was great; nor was 

 the danger less; and armed men always escorted 

 them, as a precaution against the Iroquois.^ The 



large apartments for the patients. It was amply provided with furni- 

 ture, linen, medicines, and all necessaries ; and had also two oxen, three 

 cows, and twenty sheep. A small oratory of stone was built adjoining it. 

 The inclosure was four arpents in extent. — Archives du S^ininaire de Ville- 

 viarie, cited by Faillon. 



1 Morin, Annates de I'Hdtd-Dieu de St. Joseph, MS., cited by Faillon, 

 I. 457. 



