340 A DOOMED NATION. [1638-4S. 



wished to treat for peace. The Hurons had the 

 folly to consent. The chiefs on both sides sat down 

 to a council, during which the Iroquois, seizing a 

 favorable moment, fell upon their dupes and routed 

 them completely, killing and capturing a consider- 

 able number.^ 



The large frontier town of St. Joseph was well 

 fortified with palisades, on which, at intervals, were 

 wooden watch-towers. On an evening of this 

 same summer of 1645, the Iroquois approached 

 the place in force ; and the young Huron warriors, 

 mounting their palisades, sang their war-songs all 

 night, with the utmost power of their lungs, in 

 order that the enemy, knowing them to be on their 

 guard, might be deterred from an attack. The 

 night was dark, and the hideous dissonance re- 

 sounded far and wide ; yet, regardless of the din, 

 two Iroquois crept close to the palisade, where they 

 lay motionless till near dawn. By this time the 

 last song had died away, and the tired singers had 

 left their posts or fallen asleep. One of the Iro- 

 quois, with the silence and agility of a wild-cat, 

 climbed to the top of a watch-tower, where he 

 found two slumbering Hurons, brained one of them 

 with his hatchet, and threw the other down to his 

 comrade, who quickly despoiled him of his life and 

 his scalp. Then, with the reeking trophies of their 

 exploit, the adventurers rejoined their countrymen 

 m the forest. 



The Hurons planned a counter-stroke ; and three 

 of them, after a journey of twenty days, reached 



1 Ragueneau, Relation des Rwor 1" t" " 



