Thus Without Waiting For The
Arrival Of The Ship In Which I Had Come, I Resolved To Embark Myself Upon
The same shallop, which was named "The Little Adventure;" which I did not,
nevertheless, on the same day, because the
Governor found it proper to
delay the party until the following day, & of giving me other men in the
place of those that I had brought, who sound themselves fatigued. I
embarked myself on the morrow, early in the morning, with Captain Gazer;
but the wind being found contrary, I had myself landed on the coast, with
Captain Gazer & the Englishman who spoke French, & after having sent back
the shallop with the other men, I resolved to go by land as far as the
place where I should find the marks of my nephew, which should make me
recognise the place where he was & his condition. We marched, all three,
until the morrow morning; but being arrived at the place where I had told
my nephew to leave me some marks, which having taken up, I learned that he
& his men had left our old houses & that they had built themselves another
of them upon an island above the rapids of the river Hayes. After that we
continued our route until opposite to the houses which had been abandoned,
where I hoped that we should discover something, or at least that we should
make ourselves seen or heard by firing some reports of the gun & making of
smoke; in which my attempt was not altogether vain, for after having rested
some time in that place we perceived 10 canoes of savages, who descended
the river. I believed at first that it would be probable they had there
some French with them; that my nephew would be able to send to discover who
were the people newly arrived, which obliged me to tell Captain Gazer that
I should go down to the bank of the river to speak to them; that I prayed
him to await me upon the heights without any apprehension, & that in a
little while he would be able to render evidence of my fidelity for the
service of the Company. I was at the same moment met by the savages, & from
the bank of the river I made them the accustomed signal, to the end of
obliging them to come towards me; but having perceived that they did not
put themselves to the trouble of doing it, I spoke to them in their
language, for to make myself known; which done, they approached the bank, &
not recognising me, they demanded of me to see the marks that I had; which
having shown them, they gave evidence, by their cries & postures of
diversion, the pleasure that they had of my arrival. I learned then from
them that my nephew & the other Frenchmen were above the rapids of the
river, distant about 4 leagues from the place where I was, & that they had
told them that my brother-in-law, des Groisille, should also come with me;
which obliged me telling them that he was arrived, & that they would see
him in a few days. Then I told them that we had always loved them as our
brothers, & that I would give them some marks of my amity, for which they
thanked me in begging me to not be angry for that which, by counsel, they
had been trading with the English, nor of that when I found them going to
meet their captain, who had gone across some woods, with 20 men, to the
English ships, to procure some powder & guns, which they did; that their
laying over for a month, in awaiting for me, had compelled them, but that
since I had arrived they would not go on farther, & that their chief, whom
they went to inform of my arrival, would speak more of it to me. As I had
occasion for some one among them to inform my nephew that I was in the
country, I asked of all of them if they loved the son of des Groisille, &
if he had not some relation among them; upon which there was one of them
who said to me, "He is my Son; I am ready to do that which thou wishest;" &
at that moment, he having landed, I made him throw his Beaver skin on the
ground, & after having called Captain Gazer, I spoke in these terms to this
savage in the presence of all the others: "I have made peace with the
English for love of you. They & I from henceforth shall be but one. Embrace
this captain & myself in token of peace. He is thy new brother, & this one
thy son. Go at once to him to carry this news, with the token of peace, &
tell him to come to see me in this place here, whilst the savages of the
Company go to attend me to the mouth of the river."
This savage did not fail to go & inform his son, my nephew, of my arrival,
& of carrying to him the news of peace between the French & the English,
during which we awaited with impatience his descent towards the place where
we were; whom, nevertheless, did not arrive until the morrow, about 9
o'clock in the morning. I saw at first appear my nephew, in a canoe with 3
other Frenchmen, accompanied by another canoe of the savages that I had
sent, & which came in advance to inform me of the arrival of my nephew. I
promised to this savage & his comrade each one a watch-coat, & returned to
them their Beaver skins, with the order of going to join those of their
nation, & to wait for me at the mouth of the river. After that, Captain
Gazer, the Englishman who spoke French, & myself waded into the water
half-leg deep to land upon a little island where my nephew, with his men,
would come on shore. He had arrived there before us, & he came to meet us,
saluting me, greatly surprised at the union that I had made with the
English.
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