286 PEACE. [1645. 



fessed orators who, though rarely or never claiming 

 the honors of hereditary chieftainship, had great 

 influence among the Iroquois, and were employed 

 in all affairs of embassy and negotiation. They 

 had memories trained to an astonishing tenacity, 

 were perfect in all the conventional metaphors in 

 which the language of Indian diplomacy and rheto- 

 ric mainly consisted, knew by heart the traditions 

 of the nation, and were adepts in the parliamentary 

 usages, which, among the Iroquois, were held little 

 less than sacred. 



The ambassadors were feasted for a week, not 

 only by the French, but also by the Hurons and Al- 

 gonquins ; and then the grand peace council took 

 place. Montmagny had come up from Quebec, 

 and with him the chief men of the colony. It was 

 a bright midsummer day ; and the sun beat hot 

 upon the parched area of the fort, where awnings 

 were spread to shelter the assembly. On one side 

 sat Montmagny, with officers and others who at- 

 tended him. Near him was Vimont, Superior of 

 the Mission, and other Jesuits, — Jogues among 

 the rest. Immediately before them sat the Iro- 

 quois, on sheets of spruce-bark spread on the 

 ground like mats : for they had insisted on being 

 near the French, as a sign of the extreme love they 

 had of late conceived towards them. On the oppo- 

 site side of the area were the Algonquins, in their 

 several divisions of the Algonquins proper, the 

 Montagnais, and the Atticamegues,^ sitting, lying, 



1 The Atticamegues, or tribe of the White Fish, dwelt in the forests 

 north of Three Eivers. They much resembled their INIontagnais kindred. 



