There Are
Birds Whose Bills Are Two And 20 Thumbs Long.
That bird swallows a whole
salmon, keeps it a long time in his bill.
We saw alsoe shee-goats very
bigg. There is an animal somewhat lesse then a cow whose meat is exceeding
good. There is no want of Staggs nor Buffes. There are so many Tourkeys
that the boys throws stoanes att them for their recreation. We found no
sea-serpents as we in other laks have seene, especially in that of
d'Ontario and that of the stairing haires. There are some in that of the
hurrons, but scarce, for the great cold in winter. They come not neere the
upper lake. In that of the stairing haires I saw yong boy [who] was bitten.
He tooke immediately his stony knife & with a pointed stick & cutts off the
whole wound, being no other remedy for it. They are great sorcerors & turns
the wheele. I shall speake of this at large in my last voyage. Most of the
shores of the lake is nothing but sand. There are mountains to be seene
farre in the land. There comes not so many rivers from that lake as from
others; these that flow from it are deeper and broader, the trees are very
bigg, but not so thick. There is a great distance from one another, & a
quantitie of all sorts of fruits, but small. The vines grows all by the
river side; the lemons are not so bigg as ours, and sowrer. The grape is
very bigg, greene, is seene there att all times. It never snows nor freezes
there, but mighty hot; yett for all that the country is not so unwholsom,
ffor we seldome have seene infirmed people. I will speake of their manners
in my last voyage, which I made in October.
We came to the strait of the 2 lakes of the stinkings and the upper lake,
where there are litle isles towards Norwest, ffew towards the Southest,
very small. The lake towards the North att the side of it is full of rocks
& sand, yett great shipps can ride on it without danger. We being of 3
nations arrived there with booty, disputed awhile, ffor some would returne
to their country. That was the nation of the fire, & would have us backe to
their dwelling. We by all means would know the Christinos. To goe backe was
out of our way. We contented the hurrons to our advantage with promises &
others with hope, and persuaded the Octonack to keepe his resolution,
because we weare but 5 small fine dayes from those of late that lived in
the sault of the coming in of the said upper lake, from whence that name of
salt, which is panoestigonce in the wild language, which heerafter we
will call the nation of the salt.
Not many years since that they had a cruell warre against the
Nadoneseronons. Although much inferiour in numbers, neverthelesse that
small number of the salt was a terror unto them, since they had trade with
the ffrench. They never have seene such instruments as the ffrench
furnished them withall. It is a proude nation, therfore would not submitt,
although they had to doe with a bigger nation 30 times then they weare,
because that they weare called ennemy by all those that have the accent of
the Algonquin language, that the wild men call Nadone, which is the
beginning of their name. The Iroquoits have the title of bad ennemy,
Maesocchy Nadone. Now seeing that the Christinos had hattchetts & knives,
for that they resolved to make peace with those of the sault, that durst
not have gon hundred of leagues uppon that upper lake with assurance. They
would not hearken to anything because their general resolved to make peace
with those of the Christinos & an other nation that gott gunns, the noise
of which had frighted them more then the bulletts that weare in them. The
time approached, there came about 100 of the nation of the Sault to those
that lived towards the north. The christinos gott a bigger company & fought
a batail. Some weare slaine of both sids. The Captayne of these of the
Sault lost his eye by an arrow. The batail being over he made a speech, &
said that he lost his fight of one side, & of the other he foresee what he
would doe; his courage being abject by that losse, that he himselfe should
be ambassador & conclud the peace.
He seeing that the Iroquoits came too often, a visit I must confesse very
displeasing, being that some [of] ours looses their lives or liberty, so
that we retired ourselves to the higher lake neerer the nation of the
Nadoneceronons, where we weare well receaved, but weare mistrusted when
many weare seene together. We arrived then where the nation of the Sault
was, where we found some french men that came up with us, who thanked us
kindly for to come & visit them. The wild Octanaks that came with us found
some of their nations slaves, who weare also glad to see them. For all they
weare slaves they had meat enough, which they have not in their owne
country so plentifull, being no huntsmen, but altogether ffishers. As for
those towards the north, they are most expert in hunting, & live uppon
nothing else the most part of the yeare. We weare long there before we gott
acquaintance with those that we desired so much, and they in lik maner had
a fervent desire to know us, as we them. Heer comes a company of Christinos
from the bay of the North sea, to live more at ease in the midle of woods &
forests, by reason they might trade with those of the Sault & have the
Conveniency to kill more beasts.
There we passed the winter & learned the particularitie that since wee saw
by Experience. Heere I will not make a long discours during that time,
onely made good cheere & killed staggs, Buffes, Elends, and Castors.
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