212 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



extending all the way from Tadoussac to Montreal. At the latter 



place i6o Iroquois appeared at the end of winter and continued 



their attacks all through the summer of 1661. To the French at 



Three Rivers '' it was evil upon evil, and sorrow upon sorrow." 



To this w^ere added the terrors of the comet and earthquake. 



On the Ottawa river and Lake Huron not an Indian could be 



found, so great was the fear of the Iroquois. At Quebec the 



brave M. de Lauson Avas killed, and in words of that date, " the 



Iroquois burned, killed and carried off with impunity." 



It was a gloomy time ; but, in the midst of these trials, two 



Iroquois canoes came to Montreal in July 1661, bearing a white 



flag and peace proposals from the Onondagas and Cayugas. 



Saonchiogwa, a Cayuga chief and friend of the French, w^as the 



speaker. He brought back four prisoners from Onondaga, as 



pledges of their sincerity and would restore others. The release 



of eight Cayugas was desired. The mission house yet stood at 



Lake Gannentaa, the fields there were cultivated and ready for 



the return of the French. Garakontie' had cared for the prisoners. 



Then he spoke very gravely. 



It is necessary, said he, that a Black Robe should come with 

 me ; without this there is no peace, and the lives of twenty French 

 captives at Onondaga are attached to this voyage. While saying 

 this he produced the leaf of I know not what Book, on the mar- 

 gin of which the twenty Frenchmen had written their names. 



As a result, Father Le Aloyne went on a peace embassy to the 



Iroquois for the fifth time, regarding " the day of his departure 



as one of the happiest days of his life." A glorious mission 



indeed ; for peace and deliverance Avcre to be the results. He 



wrote from the chapel at Onondaga, Aug. 25, 1661, rejoicing that 



his confidence had not been misplaced. Garakontie' had met him 



two leagues from the tow^n, an unusual honor, and his reception 



was like a triumph, the grandest that Iroquois etiquette could 



devise. Personally popular with all, he entered fully into the 



spirit of the occasion, sustaining his part with great applause. 



The enthusiastic Onondagas lined his path for two leagues, 



running on and taking new stations when he had passed, that 



they might see and greet him again. He said : 



