Suffering and Terror.—Francois Hertel.—The Captive Wolf—The threatened Invasion.—Daulac des Ormeaux.—The Adventurers at the Long Saut.—The Attack.—A Desperate Defence.—A Final Assault.—The Fort taken.
Canada had writhed1 for twenty years, with little respite2, under the scourge3 of Iroquois war. During a great part of this dark period the entire French population was less than three thousand. What, then, saved them from destruction? In the first place, the settlements were grouped around three fortified4 posts, Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal, which in time of danger gave asylum5 to the fugitive6 inhabitants. Again, their assailants were continually distracted by other wars, and never, except at a few spasmodic intervals7, were fully8 in earnest to destroy the French colony. Canada was indispensable to them. The four upper nations of the league soon became dependent on her for supplies; and all the nations alike appear, at a very early period, to have conceived the policy on which they afterwards distinctly acted, of balancing the rival settlements of the Hudson and the St. Lawrence, the one against the other. They would torture, but not kill. It was but rarely that, in fits of fury, they struck their hatchets9 at the brain; and thus the bleeding and gasping11 colony fingered on in torment12.
The seneschal of New France, son of the governor Lauson, was surprised and killed on the island of Orleans, along with seven companions. About the same time, the same fate befell the son of Godefroy, one of the chief inhabitants of Quebec. Outside the fortifications there was no safety for a moment. A universal terror seized the people. A comet appeared above Quebec, and they saw in it a herald13 of destruction. Their excited imaginations turned natural phenomena14 into portents15 and prodigies16. A blazing canoe sailed across the sky; confused cries and lamentations were heard in the air; and a voice of thunder sounded from mid-heaven. * The Jesuits despaired for their scattered17 and persecuted18 flocks. “Everywhere,” writes their superior, “we see infants to be saved for heaven, sick and dying to be baptized, adults to be instructed, but everywhere we see the Iroquois. They haunt us like persecuting19 goblins. They kill our new-made Christians20 in our arms. If they meet us on the river, they kill us. If they find us in the huts of our Indians, they burn us and them together.” ** And he appeals urgently for troops to destroy them, as a holy work inspired by God, and needful for his service.
Canada was still a mission, and the influence of
* Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre, Sept., 1661.
** Relation, 1660 (anonymous), 3.
the church was paramount22 and pervading23. At Quebec, as at Montreal, the war with the Iroquois was regarded as a war with the hosts of Satan. Of the settlers’ cabins scattered along the shores above and below Quebec, many were provided with small iron cannon24, made probably by blacksmiths in the colony; but they had also other protectors. In each was an image of the Virgin25 or some patron saint, and every morning the pious26 settler knelt before the shrine27 to beg the protection of a celestial28 hand in his perilous29 labors30 of the forest or the farm.
When, in the summer of 1658, the young Vicomte d’Argenson came to assume the thankless task of governing the colony, the Iroquois war was at its height. On the day after his arrival, he was washing his hands before seating himself at dinner in the hall of the Chateau31 St. Louis, when cries of alarm were heard, and he was told that the Iroquois were close at hand. In fact, they were so near that their war-whoops and the screams of their victims could plainly be heard. Argenson left his guests, and, with such a following as he could muster32 at the moment, hastened to the rescue; but the assailants were too nimble for him. The forests, which grew at that time around Quebec, favored them both in attack and in retreat. After a year or two of experience, he wrote urgently to the court for troops. He adds that, what with the demands of the harvest, and the unmilitary character of many of the settlers, the colony could not furnish more than a hundred men for offensive operations. A vigorous aggressive war, he insists, is absolutely necessary, and this not only to save the colony, but to save the only true faith; “for,” to borrow his own words, “it is this colony alone which has the honor to be in the communion of the Holy Church. Everywhere else reigns34 the doctrine35 of England or Holland, to which I can give no other name, because there are as many creeds36 as there are subjects who embrace them. They do not care in the least whether the Iroquois and the other savages38 of this country have or have not a knowledge of the true God, or else they are so malicious39 as to inject the venom40 of their errors into souls incapable41 of distinguishing the truth of the gospel from the falsehoods of heresy42; and hence it is plain that religion has its sole support in the French colony, and that, if this colony is in danger, religion is equally in danger.” *
Among the most interesting memorials of the time are two letters, written by Fran?ois Hertel, a youth of eighteen, captured at Three Rivers, and carried to the Mohawk towns in the summer of 1661. He belonged to one of the best families of Canada, and was the favorite child of his mother, to whom the second of the two letters is addressed. The first is to the Jesuit Le Moyne, who had gone to Onondaga, in July of that year, to effect the release of French prisoners in accordance with the terms of a truce43. ** Both letters were written on birch bark:—
* Papiers d’Argenson; Mémoire sur le sujet de la guerre des
Iroquois, 1659 (1660?). MS.
** Journal des Jésuites, 300.
My Reverend Father:—The very day when you left Three Rivers I was captured, at about three in the afternoon, by four Iroquois of the Mohawk tribe. I would not have been taken alive, if, to my sorrow, I had not feared that I was not in a fit state to die. If you came here, my Father, I could have the happiness of confessing to you; and I do not think they would do you any harm; and I think that I could return home with you. I pray you to pity my poor mother, who is in great trouble. You know, my Father, how fond she is of me. I have heard from a Frenchman, who was taken at Three Rivers on the 1st of August, that she is well, and comforts herself with the hope that I shall see you. There are three of us Frenchmen alive here. I commend myself to your good prayers, and particularly to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I pray you, my Father, to say a mass for me. I pray you give my dutiful love to my poor mother, and console her, if it pleases you.
My Father, I beg your blessing44 on the hand that writes to you, which has one of the fingers burned in the bowl of an Indian pipe, to satisfy the Majesty45 of God which I have offended. The thumb of the other hand is cut off; but do not tell my mother of it.
My Father, I pray you to honor me with a word from your hand in reply, and tell me if you shall come here before winter.
Fran?ois Hertel.
The following is the letter to his mother, sent probably, with the other, to the charge of Le Moyne:—
My most dear and honored Mother:—I know very well that my capture must have distressed47 you very much I ask you to forgive my disobedience. It is my sins that have placed me where I am. I owe my life to your prayers, and those of M. de Saint-Quentin, and of my sisters. I hope to see you again before winter. I pray you to tell the good brethren of Notre Dame48 to pray to God and the Holy Virgin for me, my dear mother, and for you and all my sisters.
Your poor
Fanchon
This, no doubt, was the name by which she had called him familiarly when a child. And who was this “Fanchon,” this devout49 and tender son of a fond mother? New England can answer to her cost. When, twenty-nine years later, a band of French and Indians issued from the forest and fell upon the fort and settlement of Salmon50 Falls, it was Fran?ois Hertel who led the attack; and when the retiring victors were hard pressed by an overwhelming force, it was he who, sword in hand, held the pursuers in check at the bridge of Wooster River, and covered the retreat of his men. He was ennobled for his services, and died at the age of eighty, the founder51 of one of the most distinguished52 families of Canada. * To the New England of old he was the abhorred53 chief of Popish malignants and murdering savages. The New England of to-day will be more just to the brave defender54 of his country and his faith.
In May, 1660, a party of French Algonquins captured a Wolf, or Mohegan, Indian, naturalized among the Iroquois, brought him to Quebec, and burned him there with their usual atrocity55 of torture. A modern Catholic writer says that the Jesuits could not save him; but this is not so. Their influence over the consciences of the colonists56
* His letters of nobility, dated 1716, will be found in
Daniel's Histoire des Grandes Familles Fran?aises du Canada,
404.
was at that time unbounded, and their direct political power was very great. A protest on their part, and that of the newly arrived bishop57, who was in their interest, could not have failed of effect. The truth was, they did not care to prevent the torture of prisoners of war, not solely58 out of that spirit of compliance59 with the savage37 humor of Indian allies which stains so often the pages of French American history, but also, and perhaps chiefly, from motives61 purely62 religious. Torture, in their eyes, seems to have been a blessing in disguise. They thought it good for the soul, and in case of obduracy63 the surest way of salvation64. “We have very rarely indeed,” writes one of them, “seen the burning of an Iroquois without feeling sure that he was on the path to Paradise; and we never knew one of them to be surely on the path to Paradise without seeing him pass through this fiery65 punishment.” * So they let the Wolf burn; but first, having instructed him after their fashion, they baptized him, and his savage soul flew to heaven out of the fire. "Is it not,” pursues the same writer, “a marvel66 to see a wolf changed at one stroke into a lamb, and enter into the fold of Christ, which he came to ravage67?”
Before he died he requited68 their spiritual cares with a startling secret. He told them that eight hundred Iroquois warriors69 were encamped below Montreal; that four hundred more, who had wintered on the Ottawa, were on the point of joining them; and that the united force would swoop70 upon
* Relation, 1660, 31.
Quebec, kill the governor, lay waste the town, and then attack Three Rivers and Montreal. * This time, at least, the Iroquois were in deadly earnest. Quebec was wild with terror. The Ursulines and the nuns71 of the H?tel Dieu took refuge in the strong and extensive building which the Jesuits had just finished, opposite the Parish Church. Its walls and palisades made it easy of defence; and in its yards and court were lodged72 the terrified Hurons, as well as the fugitive inhabitants of the neighboring settlements. Others found asylum in the fort, and others in the convent of the Ursulines, which, in place of nuns, was occupied by twenty-four soldiers, who fortified it with redoubts, and barricaded73 the doors and windows. Similar measures of defence were taken at the H?tel Dieu, and the streets of the Lower Town were strongly barricaded. Everybody was in arms, and the Qui vive of the sentries74 and patrols resounded75 all night. **
2063
The Ursuline Convent
Several days passed, and no Iroquois appeared. The refugees took heart, and began to return to their deserted76 farms and dwellings77. Among the rest was a family consisting of an old woman, her daughter, her son-in-law, and four small children, living near St. Anne, some twenty miles below Quebec. On reaching home the old woman and the man went to their work in the fields, while the mother and children remained in the house.
* Marie de l’Incarnation, Lettre, 26 Juin, 1660.
** On this alarm at Quebec compare Marie de l’Incarnation,
25 Juin, 1660; Relation, 1660, 5; Juchereau, Histoire de
l'H?tel-Dieu de Québec, 126 and Journal des Jésuites 282.
Here they were pounced78 upon and captured by eight renegade Hurons, Iroquois by adoption79, who placed them in their large canoe, and paddled up the river with their prize. It was Saturday, a day dedicated80 to the Virgin; and the captive mother prayed to her for aid, “feeling,” writes a Jesuit, “a full conviction that, in passing before Quebec on a Saturday, she would be delivered by the power of this Queen of Heaven.” In fact, as the marauders and their captives glided81 in the darkness of night by Point Levi, under the shadow of the shore, they were greeted with a volley of musketry from the bushes, and a band of French and Algonquins dashed into the water to seize them. Five of the eight were taken, and the rest shot or drowned. The governor had heard of the descent at St. Anne, and despatched a party to lie in ambush82 for the authors of it. The Jesuits, it is needless to say, saw a miracle in the result. The Virgin had answered the prayer of her votary83. “Though it is true,” observes the father who records the marvel, “that, in the volley, she received a mortal wound.” The same shot struck the infant in her arms. The prisoners were taken to Quebec, where four of them were tortured with even more ferocity than had been shown in the case of the unfortunate Wolf. * Being questioned, they confirmed his story,
Jesuits. Chaumonot, who was present to give spiritual aid to
the sufferers, describes the scene with horrible minuteness.
Perhaps not: but it is certain that the Jesuits as a body,
with or without the bishop, could have prevented the
atrocity, had they seen fit. They sometimes taught their
converts to pray for their enemies. It would have been well
had they taught them not to torture them. I can recall but
one instance in which they did so. The prayers for enemies
were always for a spiritual, not a temporal good. The
fathers held the body in slight account and cared little
what happened to it.
and expressed great surprise that the Iroquois had not come, adding that they must have stopped to attack Montreal or Three Rivers. Again all was terror, and again days passed and no enemy appeared. Had the dying converts, so charitably despatched to heaven through fire, sought an unhallowed consolation85 in scaring the abettors of their torture with a lie? Not at all. Bating a slight exaggeration, they had told the truth. Where, then, were the Iroquois? As one small point of steel disarms86 the lightning of its terrors, so did the heroism87 of a few intrepid88 youths divert this storm of war and save Canada from a possible ruin.
In the preceding April, before the designs of the Iroquois were known, a young officer named Daulac, commandant of the garrison89 of Montreal, asked leave of Maisonneuve, the governor, to lead a party of volunteers against the enemy. His plan was bold to desperation. It was known that Iroquois warriors in great numbers had wintered among the forests of the Ottawa. Daulac proposed to waylay90 them on their descent of the river, and fight them without regard to disparity of force. The settlers of Montreal had hitherto acted solely on the defensive91, for their numbers had been too small for aggressive war. Of late their strength had been somewhat increased, and Maisonneuve, judging that a display of enterprise and boldness might act as a check on the audacity92 of the enemy, at length gave his consent.
Adam Daulac, or Dollard, Sieur des Ormeaux, was a young man of good family, who had come to the colony three years before, at the age of twenty-two. He had held some military command in France, though in what rank does not appear. It was said that he had been involved in some affair which made him anxious to wipe out the memory of the past by a noteworthy exploit; and he had been busy for some time among the young men of Montreal, inviting93 them to join him in the enterprise he meditated94. Sixteen of them caught his spirit, struck hands with him, and pledged their word. They bound themselves by oath to accept no quarter; and, having gained Maisonneuve’s consent, they made their wills, confessed, and received the sacraments. As they knelt for the last time before the altar in the chapel95 of the H?tel Dieu, that sturdy little population of pious Indian-fighters gazed on them with enthusiasm, not unmixed with an envy which had in it nothing ignoble96. Some of the chief men of Montreal, with the brave Charles Le Moyne at their head, begged them to wait till the spring sowing was over, that they might join them; but Daulac refused. He was jealous of the glory and the danger, and he wished to command, which he could not have done had Le Moyne been present.
The spirit of the enterprise was purely mediaeval. The enthusiasm of honor, the enthusiasm of adventure, and the enthusiasm of faith, were its motive60 forces. Danlac was a knight97 of the early crusades among the forests and savages of the New World. Yet the incidents of this exotic heroism are definite and clear as a tale of yesterday. The names, ages, and occupations of the seventeen young men may still be read on the ancient register of the parish of Montreal; and the notarial98 acts of that year, preserved in the records of the city, contain minute accounts of such property as each of them possessed99. The three eldest100 were of twenty-eight, thirty, and thirty-one years respectively. The age of the rest varied101 from twenty-one to twenty-seven. They were of various callings,—soldiers, armorers, locksmiths, lime-burners, or settlers without trades. The greater number had come to the colony as part of the reinforcement brought by Maisonneuve in 1653.
After a solemn farewell they embarked102 in several canoes well supplied with arms and ammunition103. They were very indifferent canoe-men; and it is said that they lost a week in vain attempts to pass the swift current of St. Anne, at the head of the island of Montreal. At length they were more successful, and entering the mouth of the Ottawa, crossed the Lake of Two Mountains, and slowly advanced against the current.
Meanwhile, forty warriors of that remnant of the Hurons who, in spite of Iroquois persecutions, still lingered at Quebec, had set out on a war-party, led by the brave and wily Etienne Annahotaha, their most noted104 chief. They stopped by the way at Three Rivers, where they found a band of Christian
Algonquins under a chief named Mituvemeg An'nahotaha challenged him to a trial of courage, and it was agreed that they should meet at Montreal, where they were likely to find a speedy opportunity of putting their mettle105 to the test. Thither106, accordingly, they repaired, the Algonquin with three followers107, and the Huron with thirty-nine.
It was not long before they learned the departure of Daulac and his companions. “For,” observes the honest Dollier de Casson, “the principal fault of our Frenchmen is to talk too much.” The wish seized them to share the adventure, and to that end the Huron chief asked the governor for a letter to Daulac, to serve as credentials108. Maisonneuve hesitated. His faith in Huron valor109 was not great, and he feared the proposed alliance. Nevertheless, he at length yielded so far as to give Annahotaha a letter in which Daulac was told to accept or reject the proffered110 reinforcement as he should see fit. The Hurons and Algonquins now embarked and paddled in pursuit of the seventeen Frenchmen.
They meanwhile had passed with difficulty the swift current at Carillon, and about the first of May reached the foot of the more formidable rapid called the Long Saut, where a tumult111 of waters, foaming112 among ledges113 and boulders114, barred the onward115 way. It was needless to go farther. The Iroquois were sure to pass the Saut, and could be fought here as well as elsewhere. Just below the rapid, where the forests sloped gently to the shore, among the bushes and stumps116 of the rough clearing made in constructing it, stood a palisade fort, the work of an Algonquin war-party in the past autumn. It was a mere117 enclosure of trunks of small trees planted in a circle, and was already ruinous. Such as it was, the Frenchmen took possession of it. Their first care, one would think, should have been to repair and strengthen it; but this they seem not to have done: possibly, in the exaltation of their minds, they scorned such precaution. They made their fires, and slung118 their kettles on the neighboring shore; and here they were soon joined by the Hurons and Algonquins. Daulac, it seems, made no objection to their company, and they all bivouacked together. Morning and noon and night they prayed in three different tongues; and when at sunset the long reach of forests on the farther shore basked119 peacefully in the level rays, the rapids joined their hoarse120 music to the notes of their evening hymn121.
In a day or two their scouts122 came in with tidings that two Iroquois canoes were coming down the Saut. Daulac had time to set his men in ambush among the bushes at a point where he thought the strangers likely to land. He judged aright. The canoes, bearing five Iroquois, approached, and were met by a volley fired with such precipitation that one or more of them escaped the shot, fled into the forest, and told their mischance to their main body, two hundred in number, on the river above. A fleet of canoes suddenly appeared, bounding down the rapids, filled with warriors eager for revenge. The allies had barely time to escape to their fort, leaving their kettles still slung over the fires. The Iroquois made a hasty and desultory123 attack, and were quickly repulsed124. They next opened a parley125, hoping, no doubt, to gain some advantage by surprise. Failing in this, they set themselves, after their custom on such occasions, to building a rude fort of their own in the neighboring forest.
This gave the French a breathing-time, and they used it for strengthening their defences. Being provided with tools, they planted a row of stakes within their palisade, to form a double fence, and filled the intervening space with earth and stones to the height of a man, leaving some twenty loopholes, at each of which three marksmen were stationed. Their work was still unfinished when the Iroquois were upon them again. They had broken to pieces the birch canoes of the French and their allies, and, kindling126 the bark, rushed up to pile it blazing against the palisade; but so brisk and steady a fire met them that they recoiled127 and at last gave way. They came on again, and again were driven back, leaving many of their number on the ground, among them the principal chief of the Senecas. Some of the French dashed out, and, covered by the fire of their comrades, hacked128 off his head, and stuck it on the palisade, while the Iroquois howled in a frenzy129 of helpless rage. They tried another attack, and were beaten off a third time.
This dashed their spirits, and they sent a canoe to call to their aid five hundred of their warriors who were mustered130 near the mouth of the Richelieu. These were the allies whom, but for this untoward131 check, they were on their way to join for a com bined attack on Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal. It was maddening to see their grand project thwarted132 by a few French and Indians ensconced in a paltry133 redoubt, scarcely better than a cattle-pen; but they were forced to digest the affront134 as best they might.
Meanwhile, crouched135 behind trees and logs, they beset136 the fort, harassing137 its defenders138 day and night with a spattering fire and a constant menace of attack. Thus five days passed. Hunger, thirst, and want of sleep wrought139 fatally on the strength of the French and their allies, who, pent up together in their narrow prison, fought and prayed by turns. Deprived as they were of water, they could not swallow the crushed Indian corn, or “hominy,” which was their only food. Some of them, under cover of a brisk fire, ran down to the river and filled such small vessels140 as they had; but this pittance141 only tantalized142 their thirst. They dug a hole in the fort, and were rewarded at last by a little muddy water oozing143 through the clay.
Among the assailants were a number of Hurons, adopted by the Iroquois and fighting on their side. These renegades now shouted to their countrymen in the fort, telling them that a fresh army was close at hand; that they would soon be attacked by seven or eight hundred warriors; and that their only hope was in joining the Iroquois, who would receive them as friends. Annahotaha’s followers, half dead with thirst and famine, listened to their seducers, took the bait, and, one, two, or three at a time, climbed the palisade and ran over to the enemy, amid the hootings and execrations of those whom they deserted. Their chief stood firm; and when he saw his nephew, La Mouche, join the other fugitives144, he fired his pistol at him in a rage. The four Algonquins, who had no mercy to hope for, stood fast, with the courage of despair.
On the fifth day an uproar145 of unearthly yells from seven hundred savage throats, mingled146 with a clattering147 salute148 of musketry, told the Frenchmen that the expected reinforcement had come; and soon, in the forest and on the clearing, a crowd of warriors mustered for the attack. Knowing from the Huron deserters the weakness of their enemy, they had no doubt of an easy victory. They advanced cautiously, as was usual with the Iroquois before their blood was up, screeching149, leaping from side to side, and firing as they came on; but the French were at their posts, and every loophole darted150 its tongue of fire. Besides muskets151, they had heavy musketoons of large calibre, which, scattering152 scraps153 of lead and iron among the throng154 of savages, often maimed several of them at one discharge. The Iroquois, astonished at the persistent155 vigor33 of the defence, fell back discomfited156. The fire of the French, who were themselves completely under cover, had told upon them with deadly effect. Three days more wore away in a series of futile157 attacks, made with little concert or vigor; and during all this time Daulac and his men, reeling with exhaustion158, fought and prayed as before, sure of a martyr’s reward.
The uncertain, vacillating temper common to all Indians now began to declare itself. Some of the Iroquois were for going home. Others revolted at the thought, and declared that it would be an eternal disgrace to lose so many men at the hands of so paltry an enemy, and yet fail to take revenge. It was resolved to make a general assault, and volunteers were called for to lead the attack. After the custom on such occasions, bundles of small sticks were thrown upon the ground, and those picked them up who dared, thus accepting the gage159 of battle, and enrolling160 themselves in the forlorn hope. No precaution was neglected. Large and heavy shields four or five feet high were made by lashing161 together three split logs with the aid of cross-bars. Covering themselves with these mantelets, the chosen band advanced, followed by the motley throng of warriors. In spite of a brisk fire, they reached the palisade, and, crouching162 below the range of shot, hewed163 furiously with their hatchets to cut their way through. The rest followed close, and swarmed164 like angry hornets around the little fort, hacking165 and tearing to get in.
Daulac had crammed166 a large musketoon with powder, and plugged up the muzzle167. Lighting168 the fuse inserted in it, he tried to throw it over the barrier, to burst like a grenade among the crowd of savages without; but it struck the ragged169 top of one of the palisades, fell back among the Frenchmen and exploded, killing170 and wounding several of them, and nearly blinding others. In the confusion that followed, the Iroquois got possession of the loopholes, and, thrusting in their guns, fired on those within. In a moment more they had torn a breach171 in the palisade; but, nerved with the energy of desperation, Daulac and his followers sprang to defend it. Another breach was made, and then another. Daulac was struck dead, but the survivors172 kept up the fight. With a sword or a hatchet10 in one hand and a knife in the other, they threw themselves against the throng of enemies, striking and stabbing with the fury of madmen; till the Iroquois, despairing of taking them alive, fired volley after volley and shot them down. All was over, and a burst of triumphant173 yells proclaimed the dear-bought victory.
Searching the pile of corpses174, the victors found four Frenchmen still breathing. Three had scarcely a spark of life, and, as no time was to be lost, they burned them on the spot. The fourth, less fortunate, seemed likely to survive, and they reserved him for future torments. As for the Huron deserters, their cowardice175 profited them little. The Iroquois, regardless of their promises, fell upon them, burned some at once, and carried the rest to their villages for a similar fate. Five of the number had the good fortune to escape, and it was from them, aided by admissions made long afterwards by the Iroquois themselves, that the French of Canada derived176 all their knowledge of this glorious disaster. *
* When the fugitive Hurons reached Montreal, they were
unwilling to confess their desertion of the French, and
declared that they and some others of their people, to the
number of fourteen, had stood by them to the last. This was
the story told by one of them to the Jesuit Chaumonot, and
by him communicated in a letter to his friends at Quebec The
substance of this letter is given by Marie de l’Incarnation,
in her letter to her son of June 25, 1660. The Jesuit
Relation of this year gives another long account of the
affair, also derived from the Huron deserters, who this time
only pretended that ten of their number remained with the
French. They afterwards admitted that all had deserted but
de Casson, in his Histoire du Montréal. Another
contemporary, Belmont, who heard the story from an Iroquois,
makes the same statement. All these writers, though two of
them were not friendly to Montreal, agree that Daulac and
his followers saved Canada from a disastrous178 invasion. The
governor, Argenson, in a letter written on the fourth of
July following, and in his Mémoire sur le sujet de la guerre
des Iroquois, expresses the same conviction. Before me is an
extract, copied from the Petit Registre de la Cure de
Montréal, giving the names and ages of Daulac’s men. The
Abbé Faillon took extraordinary pains to collect all the
Colonie Fran?aise, II. chap. xv. Charlevoix, very little to
his credit, passes it over in silence, not being partial to
Montreal.
To the colony it proved a salvation. The Iroquois had had fighting enough. If seventeen Frenchmen, four Algonquins, and one Huron, behind a picket180 fence, could hold seven hundred warriors at bay so long, what might they expect from many such, fighting behind walls of stone? For that year they thought no more of capturing Quebec and Montreal, but went home dejected and amazed, to howl over their losses, and nurse their dashed courage for a day of vengeance181.
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writhed
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respite
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scourge
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fortified
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asylum
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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fully
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hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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11
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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13
herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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portents
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| n.预兆( portent的名词复数 )；征兆；怪事；奇物 | |
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prodigies
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| n.奇才，天才（尤指神童）( prodigy的名词复数 ) | |
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17
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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19
persecuting
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的现在分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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20
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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21
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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22
paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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23
pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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24
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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25
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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26
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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27
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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28
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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29
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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30
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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31
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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32
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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33
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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34
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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35
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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36
creeds
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| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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37
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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38
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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39
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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40
venom
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| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
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41
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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42
heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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43
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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44
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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45
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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46
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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47
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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48
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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49
devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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50
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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51
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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52
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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53
abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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54
defender
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| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
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55
atrocity
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| n.残暴，暴行 | |
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56
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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57
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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58
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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59
compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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60
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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61
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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62
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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63
obduracy
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| n.冷酷无情，顽固，执拗 | |
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64
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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65
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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66
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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67
ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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68
requited
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| v.报答( requite的过去式和过去分词 )；酬谢；回报；报复 | |
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69
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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70
swoop
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| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
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71
nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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72
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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73
barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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74
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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75
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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76
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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77
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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78
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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79
adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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80
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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81
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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82
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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83
votary
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| n.崇拜者；爱好者；adj.誓约的，立誓任圣职的 | |
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84
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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85
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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86
disarms
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| v.裁军( disarm的第三人称单数 )；使息怒 | |
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87
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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88
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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89
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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90
waylay
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| v.埋伏，伏击 | |
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91
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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92
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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93
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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94
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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95
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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96
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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97
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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98
notarial
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| adj.公证人的，公证的 | |
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99
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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100
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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101
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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102
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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103
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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104
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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105
mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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106
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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107
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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108
credentials
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| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
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109
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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110
proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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111
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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112
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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113
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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114
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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115
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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116
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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117
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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118
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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119
basked
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| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的过去式和过去分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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120
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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121
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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122
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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123
desultory
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| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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124
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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125
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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126
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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127
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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128
hacked
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| 生气 | |
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129
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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130
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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131
untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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132
thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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133
paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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134
affront
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| n./v.侮辱，触怒 | |
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135
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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136
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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137
harassing
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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138
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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139
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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140
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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141
pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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142
tantalized
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| v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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143
oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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144
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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145
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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146
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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147
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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148
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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149
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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150
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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151
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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152
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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153
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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154
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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155
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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156
discomfited
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| v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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157
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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158
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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159
gage
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| n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge] | |
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160
enrolling
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| v.招收( enrol的现在分词 )；吸收；入学；加入；[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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161
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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162
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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163
hewed
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的过去式和过去分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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164
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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165
hacking
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| n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
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166
crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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167
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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168
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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169
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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170
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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171
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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172
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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173
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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174
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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175
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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176
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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177
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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178
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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179
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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180
picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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181
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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