﻿l80 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  At 
  this 
  time 
  Brebeuf 
  estimated 
  the 
  Hurons 
  at 
  20 
  villages 
  and 
  

   30,000 
  people. 
  His 
  means 
  of 
  judging 
  were 
  good. 
  Champlain 
  

   reported 
  18 
  villages 
  and 
  t 
  0,000 
  adults, 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  population, 
  

   though 
  they 
  had 
  suffered 
  greatly 
  by 
  war. 
  

  

  Meanwhile 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  were 
  making 
  their 
  power 
  felt, 
  buying 
  

   guns 
  and 
  becoming 
  excellent 
  marksmen. 
  A 
  little 
  later 
  the 
  Mo- 
  

   hawks 
  had 
  400 
  men 
  carrying 
  guns, 
  which 
  few 
  of 
  their 
  enemies 
  

   could 
  procure. 
  The 
  cry 
  that 
  Mohawks 
  were 
  near 
  always 
  created 
  

   a 
  panic 
  among 
  New 
  England 
  Indians, 
  and 
  they 
  were 
  equally 
  

   dreaded 
  by 
  others. 
  Colden 
  said, 
  much 
  later 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  been 
  told 
  by 
  Old 
  Men 
  in 
  New 
  England, 
  who 
  remem- 
  

   bred 
  the 
  Time 
  when 
  the 
  Mohawks 
  made 
  War 
  on 
  their 
  Indians, 
  

   that 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  a 
  single 
  Mohawk 
  was 
  discovered 
  in 
  the 
  Country, 
  

   their 
  Indians 
  raised 
  a 
  Cry 
  from 
  Hill 
  to 
  Hill, 
  A 
  Mohawk 
  ! 
  A 
  

   Mohawk 
  ! 
  upon 
  which 
  they 
  all 
  fled 
  like 
  Sheep 
  before 
  Wolves 
  

   without 
  attempting 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  least 
  Resistance, 
  whatever 
  the 
  

   Odds 
  were 
  on 
  their 
  Side. 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  Pequot 
  chief 
  Sassacus 
  fled 
  in 
  1637, 
  he 
  sought 
  refuge 
  

   in 
  their 
  country, 
  but 
  was 
  surprised 
  and 
  slain 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  their 
  bands. 
  

   One 
  of 
  the 
  charges 
  against 
  Miantonimo, 
  in 
  1643, 
  was 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  

   hired 
  the 
  Mohawks 
  to 
  fight 
  against 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  colonists, 
  

   and 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  within 
  a 
  day's 
  journey, 
  awaiting 
  his 
  people. 
  

   This 
  was 
  unfounded. 
  They 
  often 
  fought 
  against 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  

   New 
  England, 
  but 
  seldom 
  molested 
  the 
  colonists. 
  They 
  also 
  made 
  

   inroads 
  on 
  the 
  wampum-makers, 
  as 
  some 
  Indians 
  of 
  the 
  sea- 
  

   shore 
  were 
  often 
  called, 
  and 
  these 
  became 
  tributary. 
  It 
  should 
  

   be 
  remembered 
  that 
  all 
  this 
  was 
  after 
  the 
  coming 
  of 
  the 
  whites. 
  

   Their 
  great 
  power 
  was 
  within 
  historic 
  times. 
  

  

  The 
  Iroquois 
  canoes 
  were 
  of 
  elm 
  bark, 
  and 
  of 
  clumsier 
  con- 
  

   struction 
  than 
  the 
  Canadian 
  birch 
  canoes, 
  being 
  easily 
  known 
  at 
  

   a 
  distance. 
  AY 
  hen 
  abandoned 
  they 
  were 
  sometimes 
  useful 
  to 
  

   others, 
  and 
  thus 
  a 
  young 
  Indian 
  gave 
  the 
  French 
  a 
  great 
  alarm 
  

   in 
  1637. 
  It 
  is 
  noticeable 
  how 
  generally 
  successful 
  the 
  Canadian 
  

   Indians 
  were 
  in 
  canoe 
  fights, 
  perhaps 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  better 
  boats 
  and 
  

   greater 
  nautical 
  skill. 
  In 
  this 
  year, 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  contest 
  between 
  

   the 
  Iroquois 
  and 
  the 
  nation 
  of 
  Iroquet, 
  13 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  were 
  cap- 
  

   tured. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand 
  500 
  Iroquois 
  held 
  Lake 
  St 
  Peter 
  and 
  

  

  