Iroquois Inroads ? Death of Bienville ? English Attack ? A Desperate Fight ? Miseries2 of the Colony ? Alarms ? A Winter Expedition ? La Chesnaye burned ? The Heroine of Verchères ? Mission Indians ? The Mohawk Expedition ? Retreat and Pursuit ? Relief arrives ? Frontenac Triumphant3.
One of Phips's officers, charged with the exchange of prisoners at Quebec, said as he took his leave, "We shall make you another visit in the spring;" and a French officer returned, with martial4 courtesy, "We shall have the honor of meeting you before that time." Neither side made good its threat, for both were too weak and too poor. No more war-parties were sent that winter to ravage6 the English border; for neither blankets, clothing, ammunition7, nor food could be spared. The fields had lain untilled over half Canada; and, though four ships had arrived with supplies, twice as many had been captured or driven back by English cruisers in the Gulf8. The troops could not be kept together; and they were quartered for subsistence upon the settlers, themselves half famished9.
Spring came at length, and brought with it the 287 swallows, the bluebirds, and the Iroquois. They rarely came in winter, when the trees and bushes had no leaves to hide them, and their movements were betrayed by the track of their snow-shoes; but they were always to be expected at the time of sowing and of harvest, when they could do most mischief10. During April, about eight hundred of them, gathering11 from their winter hunting-grounds, encamped at the mouth of the Ottawa, whence they detached parties to ravage the settlements. A large band fell upon Point aux Trembles, below Montreal, burned some thirty houses, and killed such of the inmates12 as could not escape. Another band attacked the Mission of the Mountain, just behind the town, and captured thirty-five of the Indian converts in broad daylight. Others prowled among the deserted14 farms on both shores of the St. Lawrence; while the inhabitants remained pent in their stockade15 forts, with misery16 in the present and starvation in the future.
Troops and militia17 were not wanting. The difficulty was to find provisions enough to enable them to keep the field. By begging from house to house, getting here a biscuit and there a morsel18 of bacon, enough was collected to supply a considerable party for a number of days; and a hundred and twenty soldiers and Canadians went out under Vaudreuil to hunt the hunters of men. Long impunity19 had made the Iroquois so careless that they were easily found. A band of about forty had made their quarters at a house near the fort at Repentigny, and here the French scouts20 discovered them early 288 in the night. Vaudreuil and his men were in canoes. They lay quiet till one o'clock, then landed, and noiselessly approached the spot. Some of the Iroquois were in the house, the rest lay asleep on the ground before it. The French crept towards them, and by one close volley killed them all. Their comrades within sprang up in dismay. Three rushed out, and were shot: the others stood on their defence, fired from windows and loopholes, and killed six or seven of the French, who presently succeeded in setting fire to the house, which was thatched with straw. Young Fran?ois de Bienville, one of the sons of Charles Le Moyne, rushed up to a window, shouted his name like an Indian warrior21, fired on the savages23 within, and was instantly shot dead. The flames rose till surrounding objects were bright as day. The Iroquois, driven to desperation, burst out like tigers, and tried to break through their assailants. Only one succeeded. Of his companions, some were shot, five were knocked down and captured, and the rest driven back into the house, where they perished in the fire. Three of the prisoners were given to the inhabitants of Repentigny, Point aux Trembles, and Boucherville, who, in their fury, burned them alive. [1]
[1] Relation de Bénac, 1691; Relation de ce qui s'est passé de plus considérable en Canada, 1690, 1691; La Potherie, III. 134; Relation de 1682-1712; Champigny au Ministre, 12 May, 1691. The name of Bienville was taken, after his death, by one of his brothers, the founder25 of New Orleans.
For weeks, the upper parts of the colony were infested26 by wolfish bands howling around the forts, which they rarely ventured to attack. At length, help came. A squadron from France, strong enough 289 to beat off the New England privateers which blockaded the St. Lawrence, arrived at Quebec with men and supplies; and a strong force was despatched to break up the Iroquois camp at the Ottawa. The enemy vanished at its approach; and the suffering farmers had a brief respite28, which enabled them to sow their crops, when suddenly a fresh alarm was sounded from Sorel to Montreal, and again the settlers ran to their forts for refuge.
Since the futile29 effort of the year before, the English of New York, still distracted by the political disorders31 that followed the usurpation32 of Leisler, had fought only by deputy, and contented33 themselves with hounding on the Iroquois against the common enemy. These savage22 allies at length lost patience, and charged their white neighbors with laziness and fear. "You say to us, 'Keep the French in perpetual alarm.' Why don't you say, 'We will keep the French in perpetual alarm'?" [2] It was clear that something must be done, or New York would be left to fight her battles alone. A war-party was therefore formed at Albany, and the Indians were invited to join it. Major Peter Schuyler took command; and his force consisted of two hundred and sixty-six men, of whom a hundred and twenty were English and Dutch, and the rest Mohawks and Wolves, or Mohegans. [3] He advanced to a point on the Richelieu ten miles above Fort Chambly, and, leaving his canoes under a strong guard, marched towards La Prairie de la Madeleine, opposite Montreal.
[2] Colden, 125, 140.
[3] Official Journal of Schuyler, in N. Y. Col. Docs., III. 800.
290 Scouts had brought warning of his approach; and Callières, the local governor, crossed the St. Lawrence, and encamped at La Prairie with seven or eight hundred men. [4] Here he remained for a week, attacked by fever and helpless in bed. The fort stood a few rods from the river. Two battalions34 of regulars lay on a field at the right; and the Canadians and Indians were bivouacked on the left, between the fort and a small stream, near which was a windmill. On the evening of the tenth of August, a drizzling35 rain began to fall; and the Canadians thought more of seeking shelter than of keeping watch. They were, moreover, well supplied with brandy, and used it freely. [5] At an hour before dawn, the sentry36 at the mill descried37 objects like the shadows of men silently advancing along the borders of the stream. They were Schuyler's vanguard. The soldier cried, "Qui vive?" There was no answer. He fired his musket38, and ran into the mill. Schuyler's men rushed in a body upon the Canadian camp, drove its occupants into the fort, and killed some of the Indian allies, who lay under their canoes on the adjacent strand39.
[4] Relation de Bénac; Relation de 1682-1712.
[5] "La débauche fut extrême en toute manière." Belmont.
The regulars on the other side of the fort, roused by the noise, sprang to arms and hastened to the spot. They were met by a volley, which laid some fifty of them on the ground, and drove back the rest in disorder30. They rallied and attacked again; on which, Schuyler, greatly outnumbered, withdrew his men to a neighboring ravine, where he once 291 more repulsed41 his assailants, and, as he declares, drove them into the fort with great loss. By this time it was daylight. The English, having struck their blow, slowly fell back, hacking42 down the corn in the fields, as it was still too green for burning, and pausing at the edge of the woods, where their Indians were heard for some time uttering frightful43 howls, and shouting to the French that they were not men, but dogs. Why the invaders44 were left to retreat unmolested, before a force more than double their own, does not appear. The helpless condition of Callières and the death of Saint-Cirque, his second in command, scarcely suffice to explain it. Schuyler retreated towards his canoes, moving, at his leisure, along the forest path that led to Chambly. Tried by the standard of partisan46 war, his raid had been a success. He had inflicted47 great harm and suffered little; but the affair was not yet ended.
A day or two before, Valrenne, an officer of birth and ability, had been sent to Chambly, with about a hundred and sixty troops and Canadians, a body of Huron and Iroquois converts, and a band of Algonquins from the Ottawa. His orders were to let the English pass, and then place himself in their rear to cut them off from their canoes. His scouts had discovered their advance; and, on the morning of the attack, he set his force in motion, and advanced six or seven miles towards La Prairie, on the path by which Schuyler was retreating. The country was buried in forests. At about nine o'clock, the scouts of the hostile 292 parties met each other, and their war-whoops48 gave the alarm. Valrenne instantly took possession of a ridge49 of ground that crossed the way of the approaching English. Two large trees had fallen along the crest50 of the acclivity; and behind these the French crouched51, in a triple row, well hidden by bushes and thick standing52 trunks. The English, underrating the strength of their enemy, and ignorant of his exact position, charged impetuously, and were sent reeling back by a close and deadly volley. They repeated the attack with still greater fury, and dislodged the French from their ambuscade. Then ensued a fight, which Frontenac declares to have been the most hot and stubborn ever known in Canada. The object of Schuyler was to break through the French and reach his canoes: the object of Valrenne was to drive him back upon the superior force at La Prairie. The cautious tactics of the bush were forgotten. Three times the combatants became mingled53 together, firing breast to breast, and scorching54 each other's shirts by the flash of their guns. The Algonquins did themselves no credit; and at first some of the Canadians gave way, but they were rallied by Le Ber Duchesne, their commander, and afterwards showed great bravery. On the side of the English, many of the Mohegan allies ran off; but the whites and the Mohawks fought with equal desperation. In the midst of the tumult55, Valrenne was perfectly56 cool, directing his men with admirable vigor57 and address, and barring Schuyler's retreat for more than an hour. At length, the French were driven 293 from the path. "We broke through the middle of their body," says Schuyler, "until we got into their rear, trampling58 upon their dead; then faced about upon them, and fought them until we made them give way; then drove them, by strength of arm, four hundred paces before us; and, to say the truth, we were all glad to see them retreat." [6] He and his followers59 continued their march unmolested, carrying their wounded men, and leaving about forty dead behind them, along with one of their flags, and all their knapsacks, which they had thrown off when the fray60 began. They reached the banks of the Richelieu, found their canoes safe, and, after waiting several hours for stragglers, embarked61 for Albany.
[6] Major Peter Schuyler's Journal of his Expedition to Canada, in N. Y. Col. Docs., III. 800. "Les ennemis enfoncèrent notre embuscade." Belmont.
Nothing saved them from destruction but the failure of the French at La Prairie to follow their retreat, and thus enclose them between two fires. They did so, it is true, at the eleventh hour, but not till the fight was over and the English were gone. The Christian62 Mohawks of the Saut also appeared in the afternoon, and set out to pursue the enemy, but seem to have taken care not to overtake them; for the English Mohawks were their relatives, and they had no wish for their scalps. Frontenac was angry at their conduct; and, as he rarely lost an opportunity to find fault with the Jesuits, he laid the blame on the fathers in charge of the mission, whom he sharply upbraided63 for the shortcomings of their flock. [7]
[7] As this fight under Valrenne has been represented as a French 294 victory against overwhelming odds64, it may be well to observe the evidence as to the numbers engaged. The French party consisted, according to Bénac, of 160 regulars and Canadians, besides Indians. La Potherie places it at 180 men, and Frontenac at 200 men. These two estimates do not include Indians; for the author of the Relation of 1682-1712, who was an officer on the spot at the time, puts the number at 300 soldiers, Canadians, and savages.
Schuyler's official return shows that his party consisted of 120 whites, 80 Mohawks, and 66 River Indians (Mohegans): 266 in all. The French writer Bénac places the whole at 280, and the intendant Champigny at 300. The other French estimates of the English force are greatly exaggerated. Schuyler's strength was reduced by 27 men left to guard the canoes, and by a number killed or disabled at La Prairie. The force under Valrenne was additional to the 700 or 800 men at La Prairie (Relation, 1682-1712). Schuyler reported his loss in killed at 21 whites, 16 Mohawks, and 6 Mohegans, besides many wounded. The French statements of it are enormously in excess of this, and are irreconcilable65 with each other.
He was at Three Rivers at a ball when news of the disaster at La Prairie damped the spirits of the company, which, however, were soon revived by tidings of the fight under Valrenne and the retreat of the English, who were reported to have left two hundred dead on the field. Frontenac wrote an account of the affair to the minister, with high praise of Valrenne and his band, followed by an appeal for help. "What with fighting and hardship, our troops and militia are wasting away." "The enemy is upon us by sea and land." "Send us a thousand men next spring, if you want the colony to be saved." "We are perishing by inches; the people are in the depths of poverty; the war has doubled prices so that nobody can live." "Many families are without bread. The inhabitants desert the country, and crowd into the towns." [8] 295 A new enemy appeared in the following summer, almost as destructive as the Iroquois. This was an army of caterpillars66, which set at naught67 the maledictions of the clergy68, and made great havoc69 among the crops. It is recorded that along with the caterpillars came an unprecedented70 multitude of squirrels, which, being industriously71 trapped or shot, proved a great help to many families.
[8] Lettres de Frontenac et de Champigny, 1691, 1692.
Alarm followed alarm. It was reported that Phips was bent72 on revenge for his late discomfiture73, that great armaments were afoot, and that a mighty74 host of "Bostonnais" was preparing another descent. Again and again Frontenac begged that one bold blow should be struck to end these perils75 and make King Louis master of the continent, by despatching a fleet to seize New York. If this were done, he said, it would be easy to take Boston and the "rebels and old republican leaven76 of Cromwell" who harbored there; then burn the place, and utterly77 destroy it. [9] Villebon, governor of Acadia, was of the same mind. "No town," he told the minister, "could be burned more easily. Most of the houses are covered with shingles78, and the streets are very narrow." [10] But the king could not spare a squadron equal to the attempt; and Frontenac was told that he must wait. The troops sent him did not supply his losses. [11] Money came every summer in sums which now seem small, but were far from being so in the eyes of the king, 296 who joined to each remittance79 a lecture on economy and a warning against extravagance. [12]
[9] Frontenac in N. Y. Col. Docs., IX. 496, 506.
[10] Villebon in N. Y. Col. Docs., IX. 507.
[11] The returns show 1,313 regulars in 1691, and 1,120 in 1692.
[12] Lettres du Roy et du Ministre, 1690-1694. In 1691, the amount allowed for extraordinaires de guerre was 99,000 livres (francs). In 1692, it was 193,000 livres, a part of which was for fortifications. In the following year, no less than 750,000 livres were drawn80 for Canada, "ce qui ne se pourroit pas supporter, si cela continuoit de la mesme force," writes the minister. (Le Ministre à Frontenac, 13 Mars, 1694.) This last sum probably included the pay of the troops.
The intendant received his share of blame on these occasions, and he usually defended himself vigorously. He tells his master that "war-parties are necessary, but very expensive. We rarely pay money; but we must give presents to our Indians, and fit out the Canadians with provisions, arms, ammunition, moccasons, snow-shoes, sledges81, canoes, capotes, breeches, stockings, and blankets. This costs a great deal, but without it we should have to abandon Canada." The king complained that, while the great sums he was spending in the colony turned to the profit of the inhabitants, they contributed nothing to their own defence. The complaint was scarcely just; for, if they gave no money, they gave their blood with sufficient readiness. Excepting a few merchants, they had nothing else to give; and, in the years when the fur trade was cut off, they lived chiefly on the pay they received for supplying the troops and other public services. Far from being able to support the war, they looked to the war to support them. [13]
[13] "Sa Majesté fait depuis plusieurs années des sacrifices immenses en Canada. L'avantage en demeure presque tout40 entier au profit des habitans et des marchands qui y resident. Ces dépenses se font pour leur seureté et pour leur conservation. Il est juste que ceux qui sont en estat secourent le public." Mémoire du Roy, 1693. "Les habitans de la colonie 297 ne contribuent en rien à tout ce que Sa Majesté fait pour leur conservation, pendant que ses sujets du Royaume donnent tout ce qu'ils ont pour son service." Le Ministre à Frontenac, 13 Mars, 1694.
The work of fortifying82 the vital points of the colony, Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal, received constant stimulus83 from the alarms of attack, and, above all, from a groundless report that ten thousand "Bostonnais" had sailed for Quebec. The sessions of the council were suspended, and the councillors seized pick and spade. The old defences of the place were reconstructed on a new plan, made by the great engineer Vauban. The settlers were mustered84 together from a distance of twenty leagues, and compelled to labor86, with little or no pay, till a line of solid earthworks enclosed Quebec from Cape13 Diamond to the St. Charles. Three Rivers and Montreal were also strengthened. The cost exceeded the estimates, and drew upon Frontenac and Champigny fresh admonitions from Versailles. [14]
[14] Lettres du Roy et du Ministre, 1693, 1694. Cape Diamond was now for the first time included within the line of circumvallation at Quebec. A strong stone redoubt, with sixteen cannon87, was built upon its summit.
In 1854, in demolishing88 a part of the old wall between the fort of Quebec and the adjacent "Governor's Garden," a plate of copper89 was found with a Latin inscription90, of which the following is a translation:—
"In the year of Grace, 1693, under the reign91 of the Most August, Most Invincible92, and Most Christian King, Louis the Great, Fourteenth of that name, the Most Excellent and Most Illustrious Lord, Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac, twice Viceroy of all New France, after having three years before repulsed, routed, and completely conquered the rebellious93 inhabitants of New England, who besieged94 this town of Quebec, and who threatened to renew their attack this year, constructed, at the charge of the king, this citadel95, with the fortifications therewith connected, for the defence of the country and the safety of the people, and for confounding yet again a people perfidious96 towards God and towards its lawful97 king. And he has laid this first stone."
298 The bounties98 on scalps and prisoners were another occasion of royal complaint. Twenty crowns had been offered for each male white prisoner, ten crowns for each female, and ten crowns for each scalp, whether Indian or English. [15] The bounty99 on prisoners produced an excellent result, since instead of killing100 them the Indian allies learned to bring them to Quebec. If children, they were placed in the convents; and, if adults, they were distributed to labor among the settlers. Thus, though the royal letters show that the measure was one of policy, it acted in the interest of humanity. It was not so with the bounty on scalps. The Abenaki, Huron, and Iroquois converts brought in many of them; but grave doubts arose whether they all came from the heads of enemies. [16] The scalp of a Frenchman was not distinguishable from the scalp of an Englishman, and could be had with less trouble. Partly for this reason, and partly out of economy, the king gave it as his belief that a bounty of one crown was enough; though the governor and the intendant united in declaring that the scalps of the whole Iroquois confederacy would be a good bargain for his Majesty101 at ten crowns apiece. [17]
[15] Champigny au Ministre, 21 Sept., 1692.
[16] Relation de 1682-1712.
[17] Mémoire du Roy aux Sieurs Frontenac et Champigny, 1693; Frontenac et Champigny au Ministre, 4 Nov., 1693. The bounty on prisoners was reduced in the same proportion, showing that economy was the chief object of the change.
The river Ottawa was the main artery102 of Canada, and to stop it was to stop the flow of her life blood. The Iroquois knew this; and their constant effort 299 was to close it so completely that the annual supply of beaver103 skins would be prevented from passing, and the colony be compelled to live on credit. It was their habit to spend the latter part of the winter in hunting among the forests between the Ottawa and the upper St. Lawrence, and then, when the ice broke up, to move in large bands to the banks of the former stream, and lie in ambush104 at the Chaudière, the Long Saut, or other favorable points, to waylay105 the passing canoes. On the other hand, it was the constant effort of Frontenac to drive them off and keep the river open; an almost impossible task. Many conflicts, great and small, took place with various results; but, in spite of every effort, the Iroquois blockade was maintained more than two years. The story of one of the expeditions made by the French in this quarter will show the hardship of the service, and the moral and physical vigor which it demanded.
Early in February, three hundred men under Dorvilliers were sent by Frontenac to surprise the Iroquois in their hunting-grounds. When they were a few days out, their leader scalded his foot by the upsetting of a kettle at their encampment near Lake St. Francis; and the command fell on a youth named Beaucour, an officer of regulars, accomplished106 as an engineer, and known for his polished wit. The march through the snow-clogged forest was so terrible that the men lost heart. Hands and feet were frozen; some of the Indians refused to proceed, and many of the Canadians lagged behind. Shots were heard, showing that 300 the enemy were not far off; but cold, hunger, and fatigue107 had overcome the courage of the pursuers, and the young commander saw his followers on the point of deserting him. He called them together, and harangued108 them in terms so animating109 that they caught his spirit, and again pushed on. For four hours more they followed the tracks of the Iroquois snow-shoes, till they found the savages in their bivouac, set upon them, and killed or captured nearly all. There was a French slave among them, scarcely distinguishable from his owners. It was an officer named La Plante, taken at La Chine three years before. "He would have been killed like his masters," says La Hontan, "if he had not cried out with all his might, 'Miséricorde, sauvez-moi, je suis Fran?ais'" [18] Beaucour brought his prisoners to Quebec, where Frontenac ordered that two of them should be burned. One stabbed himself in prison; the other was tortured by the Christian Hurons on Cape Diamond, defying them to the last. Nor was this the only instance of such fearful reprisal110. In the same year, a number of Iroquois captured by Vaudreuil were burned at Montreal at the demand of the Canadians and the mission Indians, who insisted that their cruelties should be paid back in kind. It is said that the purpose was answered, and the Iroquois deterred112 for a while from torturing their captives. [19]
[18] La Potherie, III. 156; Relation de ce qui s'est passé de plus considérable en Canada, 1691, 1692; La Hontan, I. 233.
[19] Relation, 1682-1712.
The brunt of the war fell on the upper half of 301 the colony. The country about Montreal, and for nearly a hundred miles below it, was easily accessible to the Iroquois by the routes of Lake Champlain and the upper St. Lawrence; while below Three Rivers the settlements were tolerably safe from their incursions, and were exposed to attack solely113 from the English of New England, who could molest45 them only by sailing up from the Gulf in force. Hence the settlers remained on their farms, and followed their usual occupations, except when Frontenac drafted them for war-parties. Above Three Rivers, their condition was wholly different. A traveller passing through this part of Canada would have found the houses empty. Here and there he would have seen all the inhabitants of a parish laboring114 in a field together, watched by sentinels, and generally guarded by a squad27 of regulars. When one field was tilled, they passed to the next; and this communal115 process was repeated when the harvest was ripe. At night, they took refuge in the fort; that is to say, in a cluster of log cabins, surrounded by a palisade. Sometimes, when long exemption116 from attack had emboldened117 them, they ventured back to their farm-houses, an experiment always critical and sometimes fatal. Thus the people of La Chesnaye, forgetting a sharp lesson they had received a year or two before, returned to their homes in fancied security. One evening a bachelor of the parish made a visit to a neighboring widow, bringing with him his gun and a small dog. As he was taking his leave, his hostess, whose husband had 302 been killed the year before, told him that she was afraid to be left alone, and begged him to remain with her, an invitation which he accepted. Towards morning, the barking of his dog roused him; when, going out, he saw the night lighted up by the blaze of burning houses, and heard the usual firing and screeching118 of an Iroquois attack. He went back to his frightened companion, who also had a gun. Placing himself at a corner of the house, he told her to stand behind him. A number of Iroquois soon appeared, on which he fired at them, and, taking her gun, repeated the shot, giving her his own to load. The warriors119 returned his fire from a safe distance, and in the morning withdrew altogether, on which the pair emerged from their shelter, and succeeded in reaching the fort. The other inhabitants were all killed or captured. [20]
[20] Relation, 1682-1712.
Many incidents of this troubled time are preserved, but none of them are so well worth the record as the defence of the fort at Verchères by the young daughter of the seignior. Many years later, the Marquis de Beauharnais, governor of Canada, caused the story to be written down from the recital120 of the heroine herself. Verchères was on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, about twenty miles below Montreal. A strong blockhouse stood outside the fort, and was connected with it by a covered way. On the morning of the twenty-second of October, the inhabitants were at work in the fields, and nobody was left in the place but two soldiers, two boys, an old man of eighty, 303 and a number of women and children. The seignior, formerly121 an officer of the regiment122 of Carignan, was on duty at Quebec; his wife was at Montreal; and their daughter Madeleine, fourteen years of age, was at the landing-place not far from the gate of the fort, with a hired man named Laviolette. Suddenly she heard firing from the direction where the settlers were at work, and an instant after Laviolette cried out, "Run, Mademoiselle, run! here come the Iroquois!" She turned and saw forty or fifty of them at the distance of a pistol-shot. "I ran for the fort, commending myself to the Holy Virgin123. The Iroquois who chased after me, seeing that they could not catch me alive before I reached the gate, stopped and fired at me. The bullets whistled about my ears, and made the time seem very long. As soon as I was near enough to be heard, I cried out, To arms! to arms! hoping that somebody would come out and help me; but it was of no use. The two soldiers in the fort were so scared that they had hidden in the blockhouse. At the gate, I found two women crying for their husbands, who had just been killed. I made them go in, and then shut the gate. I next thought what I could do to save myself and the few people with me. I went to inspect the fort, and found that several palisades had fallen down, and left openings by which the enemy could easily get in. I ordered them to be set up again, and helped to carry them myself. When the breaches124 were stopped, I went to the blockhouse where the ammunition is kept, and 304 here I found the two soldiers, one hiding in a corner, and the other with a lighted match in his hand. 'What are you going to do with that match?' I asked. He answered, 'Light the powder, and blow us all up.' 'You are a miserable125 coward,' said I, 'go out of this place.' I spoke126 so resolutely127 that he obeyed. I then threw off my bonnet128; and, after putting on a hat and taking a gun, I said to my two brothers: 'Let us fight to the death. We are fighting for our country and our religion. Remember that our father has taught you that gentlemen are born to shed their blood for the service of God and the king.'"
The boys, who were twelve and ten years old, aided by the soldiers, whom her words had inspired with some little courage, began to fire from the loopholes upon the Iroquois, who, ignorant of the weakness of the garrison129, showed their usual reluctance130 to attack a fortified131 place, and occupied themselves with chasing and butchering the people in the neighboring fields. Madeleine ordered a cannon to be fired, partly to deter111 the enemy from an assault, and partly to warn some of the soldiers, who were hunting at a distance. The women and children in the fort cried and screamed without ceasing. She ordered them to stop, lest their terror should encourage the Indians. A canoe was presently seen approaching the landing-place. It was a settler named Fontaine, trying to reach the fort with his family. The Iroquois were still near; and Madeleine feared that the new comers would be killed, if something were not done to aid them. 305 She appealed to the soldiers, but their courage was not equal to the attempt; on which, as she declares, after leaving Laviolette to keep watch at the gate, she herself went alone to the landing-place. "I thought that the savages would suppose it to be a ruse132 to draw them towards the fort, in order to make a sortie upon them. They did suppose so, and thus I was able to save the Fontaine family. When they were all landed, I made them march before me in full sight of the enemy. We put so bold a face on it, that they thought they had more to fear than we. Strengthened by this reinforcement, I ordered that the enemy should be fired on whenever they showed themselves. After sunset, a violent north-east wind began to blow, accompanied with snow and hail, which told us that we should have a terrible night. The Iroquois were all this time lurking133 about us; and I judged by their movements that, instead of being deterred by the storm, they would climb into the fort under cover of the darkness. I assembled all my troops, that is to say, six persons, and spoke to them thus: 'God has saved us to-day from the hands of our enemies, but we must take care not to fall into their snares134 to-night. As for me, I want you to see that I am not afraid. I will take charge of the fort with an old man of eighty and another who never fired a gun; and you, Pierre Fontaine, with La Bonté and Gachet (our two soldiers), will go to the blockhouse with the women and children, because that is the strongest place; and, if I am taken, don't surrender, even if I am cut to pieces and 306 burned before your eyes. The enemy cannot hurt you in the blockhouse, if you make the least show of fight.' I placed my young brothers on two of the bastions, the old man on the third, and I took the fourth; and all night, in spite of wind, snow, and hail, the cries of 'All's well' were kept up from the blockhouse to the fort, and from the fort to the blockhouse. One would have thought that the place was full of soldiers. The Iroquois thought so, and were completely deceived, as they confessed afterwards to Monsieur de Callières, whom they told that they had held a council to make a plan for capturing the fort in the night but had done nothing because such a constant watch was kept.
"About one in the morning, the sentinel on the bastion by the gate called out, 'Mademoiselle, I hear something.' I went to him to find what it was; and by the help of the snow, which covered the ground, I could see through the darkness a number of cattle, the miserable remnant that the Iroquois had left us. The others wanted to open the gate and let them in, but I answered: 'God forbid. You don't know all the tricks of the savages. They are no doubt following the cattle, covered with skins of beasts, so as to get into the fort, if we are simple enough to open the gate for them.' Nevertheless, after taking every precaution, I thought that we might open it without risk. I made my two brothers stand ready with their guns cocked in case of surprise, and so we let in the cattle.
"At last, the daylight came again; and, as the 307 darkness disappeared, our anxieties seemed to disappear with it. Everybody took courage except Mademoiselle Marguérite, wife of the Sieur Fontaine, who being extremely timid, as all Parisian women are, asked her husband to carry her to another fort … He said, 'I will never abandon this fort while Mademoiselle Madelon (Madeleine) is here.' I answered him that I would never abandon it; that I would rather die than give it up to the enemy; and that it was of the greatest importance that they should never get possession of any French fort, because, if they got one, they would think they could get others, and would grow more bold and presumptuous135 than ever. I may say with truth that I did not eat or sleep for twice twenty-four hours. I did not go once into my father's house, but kept always on the bastion, or went to the blockhouse to see how the people there were behaving. I always kept a cheerful and smiling face, and encouraged my little company with the hope of speedy succor136.
"We were a week in constant alarm, with the enemy always about us. At last Monsieur de la Monnerie, a lieutenant137 sent by Monsieur de Callières, arrived in the night with forty men. As he did not know whether the fort was taken or not, he approached as silently as possible. One of our sentinels, hearing a slight sound, cried, 'Qui vive?' I was at the time dozing138, with my head on a table and my gun lying across my arms. The sentinel told me that he heard a voice from the river. I went up at once to the bastion to see whether it was Indians or Frenchmen. I asked, 'Who are 308 you?' One of them answered, 'We are Frenchmen: it is La Monnerie, who comes to bring you help.' I caused the gate to be opened, placed a sentinel there, and went down to the river to meet them. As soon as I saw Monsieur de la Monnerie, I saluted139 him, and said, 'Monsieur, I surrender my arms to you.' He answered gallantly140, 'Mademoiselle, they are in good hands.' 'Better than you think,' I returned. He inspected the fort, and found every thing in order, and a sentinel on each bastion. 'It is time to relieve them, Monsieur' said I: 'we have not been off our bastions for a week.'" [21]
[21] Récit de Mlle. Magdelaine de Verchères, agée de 14 ans (Collection de l'Abbé Ferland). It appears from Tanguay, Dictionnaire Généalogique, that Marie-Madeleine Jarret de Verchères was born in April, 1678, which corresponds to the age given in the Récit. She married Thomas Tarleu de la Naudière in 1706, and M. de la Perrade, or Prade, in 1722. Her brother Louis was born in 1680, and was therefore, as stated in the Récit, twelve years old in 1692. The birthday of the other, Alexander, is not given. His baptism was registered in 1682. One of the brothers was killed at the attack of Haverhill, in 1708.
Madame de Ponchartrain, wife of the minister, procured141 a pension for life to Madeleine de Verchères. Two versions of her narrative142 are before me. There are slight variations between them, but in all essential points they are the same. The following note is appended to one of them: "Ce récit fut fait par5 ordre de Mr. de Beauharnois, gouverneur du Canada."
A band of converts from the Saut St. Louis arrived soon after, followed the trail of their heathen countrymen, overtook them on Lake Champlain, and recovered twenty or more French prisoners. Madeleine de Verchères was not the only heroine of her family. Her father's fort was the Castle Dangerous of Canada; and it was but two years before that her mother, left with three or four 309 armed men, and beset143 by the Iroquois, threw herself with her followers into the blockhouse, and held the assailants two days at bay, till the Marquis de Crisasi came with troops to her relief. [22]
[22] La Potherie, I. 326.
From the moment when the Canadians found a chief whom they could trust, and the firm old hand of Frontenac grasped the reins144 of their destiny, a spirit of hardihood and energy grew up in all this rugged145 population; and they faced their stern fortunes with a stubborn daring and endurance that merit respect and admiration146.
Now, as in all their former wars, a great part of their suffering was due to the Mohawks. The Jesuits had spared no pains to convert them, thus changing them from enemies to friends; and their efforts had so far succeeded that the mission colony of Saut St. Louis contained a numerous population of Mohawk Christians147. [23] The place was well fortified; and troops were usually stationed here, partly to defend the converts and partly to ensure their fidelity148. They had sometimes done excellent service for the French; but many of them still remembered their old homes on the Mohawk, and their old ties of fellowship and kindred. Their heathen countrymen were jealous of their secession, and spared no pains to reclaim149 them. Sometimes they tried intrigue150, and sometimes force. On one occasion, joined by the Oneidas and Onondagas, they appeared before the palisades of St. Louis, to the 310 number of more than four hundred warriors; but, finding the bastions manned and the gates shut, they withdrew discomfited151. It was of great importance to the French to sunder152 them from their heathen relatives so completely that reconciliation153 would be impossible, and it was largely to this end that a grand expedition was prepared against the Mohawk towns.
[23] This mission was also called Caghnawaga. The village still exists, at the head of the rapid of St. Louis, or La Chine.
All the mission Indians in the colony were invited to join it, the Iroquois of the Saut and Mountain, Abenakis from the Chaudière, Hurons from Lorette, and Algonquins from Three Rivers. A hundred picked soldiers were added, and a large band of Canadians. All told, they mustered six hundred and twenty-five men, under three tried leaders, Mantet, Courtemanche, and La Noue. They left Chambly at the end of January, and pushed southward on snow-shoes. Their way was over the ice of Lake Champlain, for more than a century the great thoroughfare of war-parties. They bivouacked in the forest by squads154 of twelve or more; dug away the snow in a circle, covered the bared earth with a bed of spruce boughs155, made a fire in the middle, and smoked their pipes around it. Here crouched the Christian savage, muffled156 in his blanket, his unwashed face still smirched with soot157 and vermilion, relics158 of the war-paint he had worn a week before when he danced the war-dance in the square of the mission village; and here sat the Canadians, hooded159 like Capuchin monks160, but irrepressible in loquacity161, as the blaze of the camp-fire glowed on their hardy162 visages and 311 fell in fainter radiance on the rocks and pines behind them.
Sixteen days brought them to the two lower Mohawk towns. A young Dutchman who had been captured three years before at Schenectady, and whom the Indians of the Saut had imprudently brought with them, ran off in the night, and carried the alarm to the English. The invaders had no time to lose. The two towns were a quarter of a league apart. They surrounded them both on the night of the sixteenth of February, waited in silence till the voices within were hushed, and then captured them without resistance, as most of the inmates were absent. After burning one of them, and leaving the prisoners well guarded in the other, they marched eight leagues to the third town, reached it at evening, and hid in the neighboring woods. Through all the early night, they heard the whoops and songs of the warriors within, who were dancing the war-dance for an intended expedition. About midnight, all was still. The Mohawks had posted no sentinels; and one of the French Indians, scaling the palisade, opened the gate to his comrades. There was a short but bloody163 fight. Twenty or thirty Mohawks were killed, and nearly three hundred captured, chiefly women and children. The French commanders now required their allies, the mission Indians, to make good a promise which, at the instance of Frontenac, had been exacted from them by the governor of Montreal. It was that they should kill all their male captives, a proceeding164 which 312 would have averted165 every danger of future reconciliation between the Christian and heathen Mohawks. The converts of the Saut and the Mountain had readily given the pledge, but apparently166 with no intention to keep it; at least, they now refused to do so. Remonstrance167 was useless; and, after burning the town, the French and their allies began their retreat, encumbered168 by a long train of prisoners. They marched two days, when they were hailed from a distance by Mohawk scouts, who told them that the English were on their track, but that peace had been declared in Europe, and that the pursuers did not mean to fight, but to parley169. Hereupon the mission Indians insisted on waiting for them, and no exertion170 of the French commanders could persuade them to move. Trees were hewn down, and a fort made after the Iroquois fashion, by encircling the camp with a high and dense171 abatis of trunks and branches. Here they lay two days more, the French disgusted and uneasy, and their savage allies obstinate172 and impracticable.
Meanwhile, Major Peter Schuyler was following their trail, with a body of armed settlers hastily mustered. A troop of Oneidas joined him; and the united parties, between five and six hundred in all, at length appeared before the fortified camp of the French. It was at once evident that there was to be no parley. The forest rang with war-whoops; and the English Indians, unmanageable as those of the French, set at work to entrench173 themselves with felled trees. The French and their 313 allies sallied to dislodge them. The attack was fierce, and the resistance equally so. Both sides lost ground by turns. A priest of the mission of the Mountain, named Gay, was in the thick of the fight; and, when he saw his neophytes run, he threw himself before them, crying, "What are you afraid of? We are fighting with infidels, who have nothing human but the shape. Have you forgotten that the Holy Virgin is our leader and our protector, and that you are subjects of the King of France, whose name makes all Europe tremble?" [24] Three times the French renewed the attack in vain; then gave over the attempt, and lay quiet behind their barricade174 of trees. So also did their opponents. The morning was dark and stormy, and the driving snow that filled the air made the position doubly dreary175. The English were starving. Their slender stock of provisions had been consumed or shared with the Indians, who, on their part, did not want food, having resources unknown to their white friends. A group of them squatted176 about a fire invited Schuyler to share their broth24; but his appetite was spoiled when he saw a human hand ladled out of the kettle. His hosts were breakfasting on a dead Frenchman.
[24] Journal de Jacques Le Ber, extract in Faillon, Vie de Mlle. Le Ber, Appendix.
All night the hostile bands, ensconced behind their sylvan177 ramparts, watched each other in silence. In the morning, an Indian deserter told the English commander that the French were packing their baggage. Schuyler sent to reconnoitre, and found 314 them gone. They had retreated unseen through the snow-storm. He ordered his men to follow; but, as most of them had fasted for two days, they refused to do so till an expected convoy178 of provisions should arrive. They waited till the next morning, when the convoy appeared: five biscuits were served out to each man, and the pursuit began. By great efforts, they nearly overtook the fugitives179, who now sent them word that, if they made an attack, all the prisoners should be put to death. On this, Schuyler's Indians refused to continue the chase. The French, by this time, had reached the Hudson, where to their dismay they found the ice breaking up and drifting down the stream. Happily for them, a large sheet of it had become wedged at a turn of the river, and formed a temporary bridge, by which they crossed, and then pushed on to Lake George. Here the soft and melting ice would not bear them; and they were forced to make their way along the shore, over rocks and mountains, through sodden180 snow and matted thickets181. The provisions, of which they had made a dép?t on Lake Champlain, were all spoiled. They boiled moccasons for food, and scraped away the snow to find hickory and beech182 nuts. Several died of famine, and many more, unable to move, lay helpless by the lake; while a few of the strongest toiled183 on to Montreal to tell Callières of their plight184. Men and food were sent them; and from time to time, as they were able, they journeyed on again, straggling towards their homes, singly or in small parties, feeble, emaciated185, 315 and in many instances with health irreparably broken. [25]
[25] On this expedition, Narrative of Military Operations in Canada, in N. Y. Col. Docs., IX. 550; Relation de ce qui s'est passé de plus remarquable en Canada, 1692, 1693; Callières au Ministre, 7 Sept., 1693; La Potherie, III. 169; Relation de 1682-1712; Faillon, Vie de Mlle. Le Ber, 313; Belmont, Hist. du Canada; Beyard and Lodowick, Journal of the Late Actions of the French at Canada; Report of Major Peter Schuyler, in N. Y. Col. Docs., IV. 16; Colden, 142.
The minister wrote to Callières, finding great fault with the conduct of the mission Indians. Ponchartrain à Callières, 8 Mai, 1694.
"The expedition," says Frontenac, "was a glorious success." However glorious, it was dearly bought; and a few more such victories would be ruin. The governor presently achieved a success more solid and less costly186. The wavering mood of the north-western tribes, always oscillating between the French and the English, had caused him incessant187 anxiety; and he had lost no time in using the defeat of Phips to confirm them in alliance with Canada. Courtemanche was sent up the Ottawa to carry news of the French triumph, and stimulate188 the savages of Michillimackinac to lift the hatchet189. It was a desperate venture; for the river was beset, as usual, by the Iroquois. With ten followers, the daring partisan ran the gauntlet of a thousand dangers, and safely reached his destination; where his gifts and his harangues190, joined with the tidings of victory, kindled191 great excitement among the Ottawas and Hurons. The indispensable but most difficult task remained: that of opening the Ottawa for the descent of the great accumulation of beaver skins, which had been gathering at Michillimackinac for three years, and for the want of which Canada was bankrupt. More than two hundred 316 Frenchmen were known to be at that remote post, or roaming in the wilderness192 around it; and Frontenac resolved on an attempt to muster85 them together, and employ their united force to protect the Indians and the traders in bringing down this mass of furs to Montreal. A messenger, strongly escorted, was sent with orders to this effect, and succeeded in reaching Michillimackinac, though there was a battle on the way, in which the officer commanding the escort was killed. Frontenac anxiously waited the issue, when after a long delay the tidings reached him of complete success. He hastened to Montreal, and found it swarming193 with Indians and coureurs de bois. Two hundred canoes had arrived, filled with the coveted194 beaver skins. "It is impossible," says the chronicle, "to conceive the joy of the people, when they beheld195 these riches. Canada had awaited them for years. The merchants and the farmers were dying of hunger. Credit was gone, and everybody was afraid that the enemy would waylay and seize this last resource of the country. Therefore it was, that none could find words strong enough to praise and bless him by whose care all this wealth had arrived. Father of the People, Preserver of the Country, seemed terms too weak to express their gratitude196." [26]
[26] Relation de ce qui s'est passé de plus remarquable en Canada, 1692, 1693. Compare La Potherie, III. 185.
While three years of arrested sustenance197 came down together from the lakes, a fleet sailed up the St. Lawrence, freighted with soldiers and supplies. The horizon of Canada was brightening.
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scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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ravage
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| vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废 | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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famished
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mischief
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gathering
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inmates
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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morsel
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impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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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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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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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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savages
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broth
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Founder
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infested
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squad
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respite
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futile
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disorder
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disorders
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usurpation
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contented
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battalions
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drizzling
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sentry
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descried
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musket
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strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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repulsed
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42
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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43
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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44
invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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45
molest
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| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
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46
partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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47
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
whoops
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| int.呼喊声 | |
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49
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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50
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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51
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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53
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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54
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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55
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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56
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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57
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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58
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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59
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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60
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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61
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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62
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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63
upbraided
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| v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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65
irreconcilable
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| adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的 | |
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66
caterpillars
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| n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带 | |
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67
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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68
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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69
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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70
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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71
industriously
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72
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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73
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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74
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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75
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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76
leaven
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| v.使发酵；n.酵母；影响 | |
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77
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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78
shingles
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|
| n.带状疱疹；（布满海边的）小圆石( shingle的名词复数 )；屋顶板；木瓦（板）；墙面板 | |
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79
remittance
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| n.汇款，寄款，汇兑 | |
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80
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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81
sledges
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|
| n.雪橇，雪车( sledge的名词复数 )v.乘雪橇( sledge的第三人称单数 )；用雪橇运载 | |
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82
fortifying
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|
| 筑防御工事于( fortify的现在分词 )； 筑堡于； 增强； 强化（食品） | |
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83
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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84
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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85
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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86
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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87
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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88
demolishing
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| v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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89
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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90
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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91
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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92
invincible
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|
| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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93
rebellious
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|
| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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94
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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96
perfidious
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| adj.不忠的，背信弃义的 | |
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97
lawful
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|
| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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98
bounties
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| （由政府提供的）奖金( bounty的名词复数 )； 赏金； 慷慨； 大方 | |
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99
bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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100
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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101
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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102
artery
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| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
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103
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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104
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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105
waylay
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| v.埋伏，伏击 | |
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106
accomplished
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|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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107
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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108
harangued
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|
| v.高谈阔论( harangue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
animating
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|
| v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
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110
reprisal
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|
| n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠 | |
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111
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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112
deterred
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|
| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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113
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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114
laboring
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|
| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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115
communal
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|
| adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的 | |
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116
exemption
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| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
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117
emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
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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119
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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120
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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121
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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122
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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123
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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124
breaches
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| 破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背 | |
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125
miserable
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|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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126
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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127
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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128
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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129
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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130
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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131
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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132
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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133
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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134
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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135
presumptuous
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|
| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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136
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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137
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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138
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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139
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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140
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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141
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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142
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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143
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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144
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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145
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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146
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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147
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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148
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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149
reclaim
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| v.要求归还，收回；开垦 | |
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150
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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151
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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152
sunder
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| v.分开；隔离；n.分离，分开 | |
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153
reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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154
squads
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| n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍 | |
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155
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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156
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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157
soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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158
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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159
hooded
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| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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160
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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161
loquacity
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| n.多话，饶舌 | |
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162
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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163
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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164
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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165
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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166
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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167
remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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168
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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170
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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171
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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172
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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173
entrench
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| v.使根深蒂固；n.壕沟；防御设施 | |
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174
barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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175
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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176
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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177
sylvan
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| adj.森林的 | |
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178
convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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179
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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180
sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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181
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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182
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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183
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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184
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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185
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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186
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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187
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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188
stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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189
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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190
harangues
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| n.高谈阔论的长篇演讲( harangue的名词复数 )v.高谈阔论( harangue的第三人称单数 ) | |
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191
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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192
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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193
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 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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194
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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195
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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196
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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197
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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