To
Which He Was Averse At First; But The Governor Having Assured Him That He
Would Trust Him As His
Own nephew, & that he would divide the authority
that he had with him, & myself on my part having reproached him
That he was
not loyal to the oath of allegiance that he had sworn to me, these reasons
obliged him to determine, & he assured me that he was ready to do all that
I wished of him. What contributed much was the discourse that the savages
made to him, telling him that I left him amongst them to receive in my
absence the marks of amity that they had sworn to me, & that they regarded
him as the nephew of the one who had brought peace to the nations & made
the union of the English & French in making by the same means the brothers
of both.
This last success in my affairs was proof to me of the authority that I had
over the French & the savages; for my nephew had no sooner declared that he
submitted himself to do what I wished, than all the other Frenchmen offered
themselves to risk the ennui of remaining in the country, although my
design was only to leave but two of them; & the savages on their part burst
out in cries of joy in such a manner that I no more considered after that
but to put an end to all things.
All our beaver skins having been embarked, I resolved, after having put
everything into tranquil & assured state for my return into England, where
my presence was absolutely necessary, to make known to the Company in what
manner it was necessary to act to profit advantageously the solid
establishment that I came to do & the things which were of indispensible
necessity in the country to facilitate the trade with the savages &
hindering them from making any of it with foreigners, that is to say, with
the French of Canada.
I was then for the last time with my nephew at the house of our Frenchmen,
to the end of leaving there some Englishmen. I found there a number of
savages arrived to visit me, who called my nephew & myself into one of
their cabins, where a venerable old man spoke to me in these terms:
"Porcupine's head, thy heart is good & thou hast great courage, having made
peace with the English for the love of us. Behold, we have come towards
thee, old & young, wives & daughters & little children, to thank thee for
it, & to recognise thee for our father. We wish to be the children & adopt
for our son thy nephew that thou lovest so much, & in fine to give thee an
eternal mark of the obligation that we have to thee. We weep no more
henceforth except for the memory of those of whom thou bearest the name."
After which, having told one of the young people to speak, he fell like as
if in a swoon, & the other spoke after that same manner: "Men & women,
young men & children, even those who are at the breast, remember this one
here for your father. He is better than the sun who warms you. You will
find always in him a protector who will help you in your needs & console
you in your afflictions. Men, remember that he gave you guns during the
course of the year for you to defend yourselves against your Enemies, & to
kill the beasts who nourish you & your families. Wives, consider that he
gave you hatchets & knives with which you banish hunger from your country;
daughters & children, fear nothing more, since the one who is your father
loves you always, & that he gave you from time to time all that is
necessary for you to have your subsistance. We all together weep no more,
on the contrary give evidence by cries of our mirth that we have beheld the
man of courage;" & at the same time they set themselves to cry with all
their might, weeping bitterly for the last time, in saying, "We have lost
our father; [Footnote: "But here is one that you adopt for your father."
Note by Radisson,] we have lost our children." [Footnote: "Here is the
nephew of your father, who will be your son; he remains with you & he will
have care of his mothers." Note by Radisson,]
After that piteful music they all came to be acknowledged. To be
acknowledged by our adoption with some presents, & covering us with robes
of white beaver skins, giving us quantities of beavers' tails, Some
bladders of stag's marrow, several tongues of the same animal smoked, that
which is the most exquisite to eat among them. They also presented us two
great copper boilers full of smoked & boiled flesh, of which we ate all
together, they, the English, & ourselves, & it is what is called a feast
among these nations. After that I said adieu to them, & having given charge
in the house what should be embarked in the ship, I went down to the mouth
of the River, where Captain Gazer worked to build a fort in the same place
where the preceding year Sieur Bridger had made to be constructed his
shallop. It was the most advantageous situation that he had been able to
find, & I advised that he should make all the diligence possible; but he
had some men who by their delicacy were incapable of responding to his
vigilence. I made this observation because I hold it for a maxim that one
should only employ men robust, skilful, & capable of serving, & that those
who are of a complexion feeble, or who flatter themselves of having
protection & favour, ought to be dismissed.
Then we passed to the place where the ships were, because my design was to
oblige by my presence the captains to return to their ships ready to make
sail; but I was no sooner arrived there than a savage came to inform me
that my adopted father, whom I had not seen because that he was at the
wars, waited for me at the place where Captain Gazer was building the Fort
of which I came to speak.
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