1690.] THE BUSH-RANGERS. 209 



border settlements of New Hampshire, and the 

 third at those of Maine. That of Montreal was 

 ready first. It consisted of two hundred and ten 

 men, of whom ninety-six were Indian converts, 

 chiefly from the two mission villages of Saut St. 

 Louis and the Mountain of Montreal. They were 

 Christian Iroquois whom the priests had persuaded 

 to leave their homes and settle in Canada, to the 

 great indignation of their heathen countrymen, 

 and the great annoyance of the English colonists, 

 to whom they were a constant menace. When 

 Denonville attacked the Senecas, they had joined 

 him ; but of late they had shown reluctance to 

 fight their heathen kinsmen, with whom the French 

 even suspected them of collusion. Against the 

 English, however, they willingly took up the 

 hatchet. The French of the party were for 

 the most part coiireurs de bois. As the sea is 

 the sailor's element, so the forest was theirs. Their 

 merits were hardihood and skill in woodcraft ; their 

 chief faults were insubordination and lawlessness. 

 They had shared the general demoralization that 

 followed the inroad of the Iroquois, and under 

 Denonville had proved mutinous and unmanage- 

 able. In the best times, it was a hard task to com- 

 mand them, and one that needed, not bravery 

 alone, but tact, address, and experience. Under a 

 chief of such a stamp, they were admirable bush- 

 fighters, and such were those now chosen to lead 

 them. D'Aillebout de Mantet and Le Moyne de 

 Sainte-Helene, the brave son of Charles Le Moyne, 

 had the chief command, supported by the brothers 



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