254 MASSACHUSETTS ATTACKS QUEBEC. [1690. 



and that I would grant them no peace that did not 

 include all my children, both white and red, for I 

 was the father of both alike." 



Now ensued a curious scene. Frontenac took a 

 hatchet, brandished it in the air and sang the war- 

 song. The principal Frenchmen present followed 

 his example. The Christian Iroquois of the two 

 neighboring missions rose and joined them, and so 

 also did the Hurons and the Algonquins of Lake Ni- 

 pissing, stamping and screeching like a troop of 

 madmen ; while the governor led the dance, whoop- 

 ing like the rest. His predecessor would have 

 perished rather than play such a part in such com- 

 pany ; but the punctilious old courtier was himself 

 half Indian at heart, as much at home in a wigwam 

 as in the halls of princes. Another man would have 

 lost respect in Indian eyes by such a performance. 

 In Frontenac, it roused his audience to enthusiasm. 

 They snatched the proffered hatchet and promised 

 war to the death. 1 



Then came a solemn war-feast. Two oxen and 

 six large dogs had been chopped to pieces for the 

 occasion, and boiled with a quantity of prunes. Two 



1 " Je leur mis moy-mesme la hache a la main en chantant la chanson 

 de guerre pour m'accommoderaleursfacons de faire." Frontenac au Mi- 

 ni stre, 9 et 12 Nov., 1690. 



" Monsieur de Frontenac commenca la Chanson de guerre, la Hache 

 a, la main, les principaux Chefs des Francois se joignant a luy avec de 

 pareilles amies, la chanterent ensemble. Les Iroquois du Saut et de la 

 Montagne, les Hurons et les Nipisiriniens donnerent encore le branle : 

 Ton eut dit, Monsieur, que ces Acteurs etoient des possedez par les 

 gestes et les contorsions qu'ils faisoient. Les Sassakouez, oil les cris et 

 les hurlemens que M^ de Frontenac etoit oblige' de faire pour se confor- 

 mer a leur maniere, augmentoit encore la fureur bachique." La Po- 

 therie, III. 97. 



