I Was In The Village With The Father And With Another Frenchman, Where We See The Crudest Thing In Nature Acted.

Those Iroquoits that came along the river with us, some weare about fishing, some a hunting, they seeing this woman makes her [their] slave.

One day a man or theirs was forwearned for his insolency, for not referring to the Governor, doing all out of his owne head. [He him] selfe was to come that day, leading 2 women with their 2 children, he not intending to give an account of anything but by his owne authority. The elders, heering this, goes and meets him some 50 paces out of the village for to maintaine their rights. They stayed this man. What weare those beasts? He answered they weare his; he no sooner had spoaken, but one old man spoak to him thus: "Nephew, you must know that all slaves, as well men as women, are first brought before the Councell, and we alone can dispose [of] them." So said, & turned to the other side, and gave a signe to some soldiers that they brought for that purpose, to knock those beasts in the head, who executed their office & murdered the women. One tooke the child, sett foot on his head, taking his leggs in his hands, wrought the head, by often turning, from off the body. An other souldier tooke the other child from his mother's brest, that was not yett quite dead, by the feete and knocks his head against the trunck of a tree. This [is] a daily exercise with them, nor can I tell the one half of their cruelties in like sortes. Those with many others weare executed, some for not being able to serve, and the children for hindering their mothers to worke. So they reckne a trouble to lett them live. O wicked and barbarious inhumanity! I forgott to tell that the day the woman layed in, some houres before, shee and I roasted some Indian Corn in the fire: being ready, shee pulled out the grains one by one with a stick, and as shee was so doing, shee made a horrid outcry, shewing me a toad, which was in the breadth of a dish, which was in the midle of the redd ashes striving to gett out. We wondered, for the like was never seene before. After he gott out of the fire we threwed stoanes & staves att him till it was killed. That toad lived 2 dayes in or under the fire.

Having remained in that village 6 dayes, we have seene horrible cruelties committed. Three of us resolved to turne back to our fort, which was 5 miles off. We brought above 100 women, hurron slaves & others, all loadened with corne. We weare allwayes in scarcity for pollicy, though we had enough, ffor certainty is farre better then the incertainry. Before we departed this base place we received [news] that the hurron who was saved by the consent of the rest in the Isle of Massacre, as is above said, 2 dayes after his deliverance run'd away by night towards the lower country of the Iroquoits, where he arrived safe, not without sufferings in the way, ffor such long voyages cannot be performed otherwise, having gon through vast forests, finding no inn in the way, neither having the least provision.

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