1684.] THE INDIAN ALLIES. Ill 



vance of his men. His camp was again full of the 

 sick. Their comrades placed them, shivering with 

 ague fits, on board the flat-boats and canoes ; and 

 the whole force, scattered and disordered, floated 

 clown the current to Montreal. Nothing had been 

 gained but a thin and flimsy truce, with new 

 troubles and dangers plainly visible behind it. The 

 better to understand their nature, let us look for a 

 moment at an episode of the campaign. 



When La Barre sent messengers with gifts and 

 wampum belts to summon the Indians of the Upper 

 Lakes to join in the war, his appeal found a cold 

 response. La Durantaye and Du Lhut, French com- 

 manders in that region, vainly urged the surround- 

 ing tribes to lift the hatchet. None but the Hurons 

 would consent, when, fortunately, Nicolas Perrot 

 arrived at Michillimackinac on an errand of trade. 

 This famous coureur de bois — a very different per- 

 son from Perrot, governor of Montreal — was well 

 skilled in dealing with Indians. Through his in- 

 fluence, their scruples were overcome ; and some 

 five hundred warriors, Hurons, Ottawas, Ojibwas, 

 Pottawatamies, and Foxes, were persuaded to em- 

 bark for the rendezvous at Niagara, along with a 

 hundred or more Frenchmen. The fleet of canoes, 

 numerous as a flock of blackbirds in autumn, began 

 the long and weary voyage. The two commanders 

 had a heavy task. Discipline was impossible. The 

 French were scarcely less wild than the savages. 

 Many of them were painted and feathered like 

 their red companions, whose ways they imitated 

 with perfect success. The Indians, on their part, 



