1643-45.] HURONS AND IROQUOIS. 269 



and his squaw with that of Madeleine. Maison- 

 neuve rewarded him with a gun, and celebrated 

 the day by a feast to all the Indians present.^ 



The French hoped to form an agricultural settle- 

 ment of Indians in the neighborhood of Villemarie ; 

 and they spared no exertion to this end, giving 

 them tools, and aiding them to till the fields. They 

 might have succeeded, but for that pest of the wil- 

 derness, the Iroquois, who hovered about them, 

 harassed them with petty attacks, and again and 

 again drove the Algonquins in terror from their 

 camps. Some time had elapsed, as we have seen, 

 before the Iroquois discovered Villemarie ; but at 

 length ten fugitive Algonquins, chased by a party 

 of them, made for the friendly. settlement as a safe 

 asylum ; and thus their astonished pursuers became 

 aware of its existence. They reconnoitred the 

 place, and went back to their towns with the news.^ 

 From that time forth the colonists had no peace; 

 no more excursions for fishing and hunting ; no more 

 Sunday strolls in woods and meadows. The men 

 went armed to their work, and returned at the 

 sound of a bell, marching in a compact body, pre- 

 pared for an attack. 



Early in June, 1643, sixty Hurons came down 

 in canoes for traffic, and, on reaching the place 

 now called Lachine, at the head of the rapids of 



1 It was the usual practice to give guns to converts, "pour attirer 

 leur compatriotes a la Foy." They were never given to heathen Indians. 

 " It seems," observes Vimont, " that our Lord wishes to make use of this 

 method in order that Christianity may become acceptable in this conn- 

 try ."— Relation, 1643,71. 



2 DoUier de Casson, MS. 



23* 



