Having Come To The Watter Side, Where Their Boats Weare, Saw The
Ffrench All In A Row, Who Layd In An Ambush To Receive Them, Which They Had
Done If God Had Not Ben For Us; Ffor They, Thinking That The Enemy Was Att
Hand, Mistrusted Nothing To The Contrary.
The ffrench that weare in the
wood, seeing the evident danger where their countrymen layd, encouraged the
Ottanaks, who tooke their armes againe and followed the enemy, who not
feared that way arrived before the ffrench weare apprehended, by good
looke.
One of the Iroquoits, thinking his boat would be seene, goes quickly and
putts it out of sight, & discovers himselfe, which warned the ffrench to
hinder them to goe further uppon that score. Our wildmen made a stand and
fell uppon them stoutly. The combat begins a new; they see the ffrench that
weare uppon the watter come neere, which renforced them to take their boats
with all hast, and leave their booty behind. The few boats that the french
had brought made that could enter but the 60 ffrench, who weare enough. The
wildmen neverthelesse did not goe without their prey, which was of three
men's heads that they killed att the first fight; but they left Eleven of
theirs in the place, besides many more that weare wounded. They went
straight to their countrey, which did a great service to the retourne of
our wildmen, and mett with non all their journey, as we heard afterwards.
They went away the next day, and we stayed att home att rest that yeare. My
brother and I considered whether we should discover what we have seene or
no; and because we had not a full and whole discovery, which was that we
have not ben in the bay of the north, not knowing anything but by report of
the wild Christinos, we would make no mention of it for feare that those
wild men should tell us a fibbe. We would have made a discovery of it
ourselves and have an assurance, before we should discover anything of it.
The ende of the Auxotacicac voyage, which is the third voyage.
[Fourth Voyage of Peter Esprit Radisson]
The spring following we weare in hopes to meet with some company, having
ben so fortunat the yeare before. Now during the winter, whether it was
that my brother revealed to his wife what we had seene in our voyage and
what we further intended, or how it came to passe, it was knowne; so much
that the ffather Jesuits weare desirous to find out a way how they might
gett downe the castors from the bay of the north by the Sacgnes, and so
make themselves masters of that trade. They resolved to make a tryall as
soone as the ice would permitt them. So to discover our intentions they
weare very earnest with me to ingage myselfe in that voyage, to the end
that my brother would give over his, which I uterly denied them, knowing
that they could never bring it about, because I heard the wild men say that
although the way be easy, the wildmen that are feed att their doors would
have hindred them, because they make a livelyhood of that trade.
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