1649.] HIS DEATH. 409 



His brother priests were for some time ignorant 

 of what had befallen him. At length a Huron 

 Indian, who had been converted, but afterward 

 apostatized, gave out that he had met him in the 

 forest, and aided him with his canoe to cross a 

 river which lay in his path. Some supposed that 

 he had lost his way, and died of cold and hunger ; 

 but others were of a different opinion Thek sus- 

 picion was confirmed some time afterwards by the 

 renegade Huron, who confessed that he had killed 

 C'habanel and thrown his body into the river, after 

 robbing him of his clothes, his hat, the blanket or 

 mantle which was strapped to his shoulders, and 

 the bag in which he carried his books and papers. 

 He declared that his motive was hatred of the 

 Faith, which had caused the ruin of the Hurons.^ 

 The priest had prepared himself for a worse fate. 

 Before leaving Sainte Marie on the Wye, to go 

 to his post in the Tobacco Nation, he had written 

 to his brother to regard him as a victim destined to 

 the fires of the Iroquois.^ He added, that, though 

 he was naturally timid, he was now wholly indiffer- 

 ent to danger ; and he expressed the belief that only 

 a superhuman power could have wrought such a 

 change in him.^ 



1 Me'moires touchant la Mort et les VeHus des Peres, etc. MS. 



2 Ahregede la Vie du P. Noel Chabanel. MS. 



3 " le suis fort apprehensif de mon naturel ; toutefois, maintenant 

 que ie vay au plus grand danger et qu'il me semble que la niort n'est pas 

 esloignee, ie ne sens plus de crainte. Cette disposition ne vient pas de 

 moy." — Relation des Hurons, 1650, 18. 



The following is the vow made by Chabanel, at a time when his 

 disgust at the Indian mode of life beset him with temptations to ask to be 

 recalled from the mission. It is translated from the Latin original : — 



35 



