Chapter X: Biard's Epistola (1)

ex Portu-regali in Acadia

Januarii 31, [1612]

DILLINGEN: MEYER'S PRESS, n. d.

SOURCE: Reprinted from O'Callaghan's Reprint, No. 1.

_Missio Canadensis_

EPISTOLA

ex

Portu-regali in ACADIA

transmissa

Ad Praepositvm Generalem Societatis IESV

A. R. PETRO BIARDO ejvsdem Societatis

_Secundvm exemplar emissum in_ ANNUIS LITTERIS _Anni_ CIↃ. IↃC. XI

DILINGÆ.

Ex Typographéo Mayeriana, apud Melchiorem Algeyer.

_Canadian Mission_

LETTER

from

Port Royal in ACADIA

sent

To the General of the Society of JESUS by Reverend PIERRE BIARD of the
same Society

_According to the copy published in the_ ANNUÆ LITTERÆ _of the year
1611_

DILLINGEN.

From Meyer's Press, at Melchior Algeyer's.

[iii] Lectori.

_POSTQUAM Patres Societatis_ Jesu _malevolentiam inimicorum suorum vicerant et in_ Galliam _reversierant, vocari videbantur aliò ad labores suos fructuosè collocandos._

[iii] To the Reader.

_AFTER the Fathers of the Society of_ Jesus _had overcome the
ill-will of their enemies and again been admitted into_ France,[7]
_they felt themselves called to other fields for the fruitful
employment of their labors._

_Multa erat in_ Novâ Franciâ _messis, ubi incolæ pene belluarum more sine Numinis cognitione vivebant._

_A rich harvest was offered in_ New France, _where the natives
lived almost like animals, without any knowledge of God._

_Illûc igitur missi fuerunt duo Societatis sacerdotes, Patres scilicet_ Petrus Biardus _et_ Enemundus Massæus, _qui in_ Acadiam _pervenerunt 22 Maii, Anno Salutis 1611. Septem per menses ibi commoratus_, [iv] P. Biardus _hanc epistolam, Superiori suo transmisit._

_To that country, accordingly, were sent two priests of the
Society, Fathers_ Pierre Biard _and_ Enemond Massé, _who reached_
Acadia _on the 22nd of May, 1611. After remaining there seven
months_, [iv] Father Biard _sent this epistle to his Superior._

_Quatuor velluti in capita hæc litera divisa est, & narrat:_

1º. _Quid sit_ Nova Francia, _qualis regio, qui in eâ populi, quique mores._

2º. _Quo modo, quibusve auxiliis aut successu, Societas missionem illá in regione consecuta sit._

3º. _Quonam in statu rem Christianam his in locis offenderit Societas._

4º. _Quid a missionariis hactenus effectum seu potius attentatum sit._

_The letter is divided, as it were, under four heads, and relates:_

_1st. What New France is, the nature of the country, what tribes
inhabit it, and their customs._

_2nd. In what manner, with what help and with what success the
Society secured a mission in that country._

_3rd. In what condition the Society found the Christian religion in
this region._

_4th. What has been done by the missionaries thus far, or rather
what has been attempted._

_Licet epistola sub finem habeat:_ ultimo die Januarii CIↃ. IↃC. XI. _ia quidem aut error in anno est, aut P._ Biardus _secundum stylum veterem scripsit, nam debit esse annus_, CIↃ. IↃC. XII.

_Although, the end of the letter reads: the last day of_ January,
1611,--_either there is an error in the year, or Father Biard wrote
according to the old style, for the year ought to be 1612.[8]_

[5] Missio Canadensis.

REVERENDE IN CHRISTO PATER,

Pax Christi.

VOCAT NOS huius anni CIↃ.IↃC.XI. instans iam atqʒ vrgens exitus ad recognoscendum coram Paternitate vestra principium, quo primùm Societas in has nouæ Franciæ regiones delata est: multorum quoque beneficiorum cumulus, quo nos diuina largitas in his & auspicādis, & sospitādis initijs prosecuta est, hoc exigit, vt in hoc tanquam temporum anníque portu actionum nostrarū, & tanquam velificationis seriem relegētes, Chariss: Patres Fratrésqʒ nostros inuitemus, & ad gaudium pro ijs, quæ feliciter [6] in nobis diuina manus operata est, & scilicet ad gemitum pariter & orationem pro ijs, quæ in animorum salute procuranda, segniter ipsi nequitérque multa deliquimus. Quod enim diutius antè Societas multísqʒ conatibus intenderat, vt aliquam suis laboribus posset huic quoq; siluaticæ genti opem & lucem Euangelio inferendo affere, id hoc ipsa demum anno videtur, vt in tenui exiguóque principio satis feliciter, próque desiderio esse assecuta.

[5] Canadian Mission.

REVEREND FATHER IN CHRIST,

The peace of Christ be with you.

The end of this year 1611, which is already so rapidly drawing
near, invites me to write to your Reverence in acknowledgment of
its beginning, in which our Society first penetrated into this
territory of new France. The profusion of blessings and favors
which the divine bounty has bestowed upon us while undertaking and
sustaining this infant enterprise, requires that in this haven, as
it were, of time and of the year we should, reviewing the course
of our actions and the occurrences of our voyage, invite our dear
Fathers and Brothers to share both in our rejoicing for those
things which the hand of God has happily [6] effected through us,
and, too, in our mourning and our prayers for our delinquencies and
inefficiency in seeking the salvation of souls. The object sought
by the Society for a long time previously and with many efforts,
that it might in some degree impart help and light to this savage
people also by its labors in bringing the Gospel among them, it
seems at last to have attained in this year, with a small and
slight beginning indeed, yet auspiciously and in accordance with
its hopes.

Atque hoc scilicet mihi iam narrandum est, exponendúmqʒ vestræ Paternitati, quæ & quanta sit hæc messis animorum, quidvé à magno Patrefamilias datum nobis hactenus, quid etiam porrò dandum speretur. Sed vt commodissimè tota mihi narratio decurrat, neq; decurrentem, vt fit, multa effugiant, in quatuor videtur velut capita rei totius expositio esse diuidenda. Exponā ergo primùm, quæ sit hæc noua Francia, quæ regio, qui populi morésque: tum deinde quomodo, quibusvé tandē auxilijs, aut successu Societas missionem in has regiones [7] obtinuerit. Tertiò quonam in statu rem Christianam in his terris offenderimus. Postremò quid à nobis effectum hactenus, seu potiùs quid attentatum sit ad diuinam gloriam. Hæc mihi videtur esse posse commodissima & sufficiens narrandorum omnium expositio.

This also I must narrate and explain to your Reverence, of what
nature and how numerous is this harvest of souls, and what has
hitherto been given to us by our Heavenly Father, and what further
gifts we may hope for in the future. But to facilitate my whole
narration, and to obviate the possible omission of many details in
its course, I think it best to divide the whole matter under four
heads. I shall therefore first describe new France, the country,
the natives, and their customs; next, in what manner, and with what
help, and with what result, our Society secured a mission to this
country; [7] thirdly, in what condition we found the Christian
religion in this region; and, finally, what has been accomplished
by us thus far, or rather what has been attempted for the glory of
God. This appears to me a very convenient and sufficient summary of
all I am to tell.

Atque vt à capite ordiar explicémque primùm, quænam sit hæc Noua Francia, quod solum, quivé ritus gentis, credo non solùm Paternitati vestræ iucundum, sed nobis quoqʒ necessarium, regionem vniuersam accuratiùs describere. Nam cùm hic nobis ad laborandum campus assignatus, certum est, non posse nos à vestra paternitate dirigi pro occursuum varietate, nisi ea fines, adfractus viarum, viciniorum locorum distantiam, statum gentis & rerum, noverit.

And, in order that I may begin at the beginning and explain first
what sort of a land New France is, the nature of the country and
the customs of the natives, I think it will be not only a pleasure
for your Reverence, but also a necessity for ourselves that the
whole territory be rather accurately described. For, since this
is the field assigned to us for our labors, it is certain that
your reverence cannot direct us in accordance with our varied
needs without a knowledge of the extent of the country, of the
impediments to travel, of the distance of neighboring settlements,
and of the condition of people and things.

Præterea tot video à Geographis antiquis errores tenebrásque in hanc cognitionem induci, vt nisi à nobis succurratur rerum non auditoribus sed spectatoribus, non possit non in nostris itineribus & vestigijs persequendis haud minùs à veritate, quàm à corpore cogitatio peregrinari. [8] Norumbegam illi nobis nescio quam, vrbésque & castella nominant, quorum hodie ne vmbra quidem aut ipsa vox extant.

Besides, I find this matter involved in so much error and darkness
by the older Geographers, that unless we, who know these things
not from hearsay only, but are eyewitnesses thereof, come to the
rescue, it is impossible that the mind, in tracing our footsteps
and our journeys, should not wander as far away from the truth as
it has to do from the body. [8] They speak of a certain Norumbega
and give the names of cities and strongholds of which to-day no
trace or even report remains.

Verùm quod polliciti sumus exequamur. Noua Francia, vti nunc Galli vsurpant, regio illa est trans Oceanum Gallicum, quæ à quadragesimo primo gradu vsque ad quinquagesimum secundum latitudinis, aut etiam quinquagesimum tertium procurrit.

However, let me fulfill my promise. New France, as the French now
call it, is that territory across the French Ocean which extends
from the forty-first to the fifty-second, or even fifty-third
degree of latitude.

Scio ab alijs multò latiùs fines regionis porrigi, ab alijs coarctari angustiùs, sed ego hîc non disputo: id solùm expono, quod nunc vti dixi communiùs vsurpatur, vel quod hoc terrarum Gallorum nauigationibus ab aliquot iam annis maximè frequentatum & vindicatum est, vel quod illud idem ferè antiquæ Franciæ parallelū æqualiter eam ab occidente respicit.

I know that some extend the boundaries of this region much farther,
while others restrict them more narrowly, but I am not arguing this
point; I merely explain what is, as I have said, the prevailing
interpretation of them, either because this part of the country has
been for many years past particularly explored and claimed by the
French, or because the parallels bounding this western region are
almost the same as those of old France.

Hæc igitur Noua Francia oram habet sanè multifariam, sinubus marinis fluminibùsque exesam, an fractuosam & recurrentem. Sinus duo sunt maiores, [9] vastíque; alter is, qui S. Laurentij gurges; alter, qui Francius appellatur.

New France has an exceedingly varied sea-coast, indented by bays
and rivers, broken and irregular. There are two principal bays [9]
of vast size, one called the gulf of St. Lawrence, the other French
bay.

Námque à quadragesimo septimo gradu, vsque ad quinquagesimum primum, tellus velut gremium aperit; siue ad accipiendum introrsus Oceanum, siue ad exonerandum magnum flumen Canadan. Atque hic gurges S. Laurentij dicitur, cuius in introitu ingens illa adiacet insula, quam terras nouas Galli, Barbari Praesentis appellant moluarum piscatu celeberrima; oram sinûs fluminísque tenent Aquilonem versùs Excomminqui, siue, vt vulgus indigetat, Excōmunicati. Fera gens est, & vt dicitur Anthropophaga, quanquam & hi olim satis diu pacificè cum Gallis agitârunt, nunc irreconciliabiles cum his inimicitias exercent. Sequuntur interiùs, occidentem versùs Algonquini, pòst Montagnesij, intimi sunt ad capita ipsius magni fluminis Canadæ, Irocosij, qui etiam latè Austrum versus protenduntur.

Indeed, from the forty-seventh degree as far as to the fifty-first,
the land opens its bosom, as it were, to receive the Ocean into
it, or to facilitate the outflow of the great Canadian river. This
gulf is known as the gulf of St. Lawrence, in the mouth of which
lies that enormous island which the French call newfoundland, the
Savages Præsentis [Plaisance];[9] it is famous for its cod-fishery;
the shores of the gulf and the rivers are occupied toward the
North by the Excomminqui, or, as they are commonly called, the
Excommunicated.[10] This tribe is very savage, and, it is said, is
addicted to Cannibalism; although once in very peaceful relations
with the French for a considerable length of time, it is now on a
footing of irreconcilable enmity. There follow, in the interior,
toward the west, the Algonquins; then the Montagnais; those
dwelling at the head-waters of this same great Canadian river are
the Irocois, whose territory also extends far to the South.

Atque hi ferè Irocosij noti sunt Gallis duntaxat ob perpetua bella, quæ cum Montagnesijs, & Algonquinis fœderatis [10] & amicis populis geruntur. Iam verò Austrum versùs terra ab hoc S. Laurentij sinu paulatim vsque ad quadragesimum tertium gradum excurrit, vbi rursus altero sinu maximo inciditur, quem Francicum appellant. Hic gurges terras vastè exedens, seséque Aquilonem versùs & S. Laurentij sinum incuruans, velut Isthmum efficit; Isthmúmque adiuuat S. Ioannis longissimum flumē, quod orsum ab ipsa propemodum ora magni Canadæ in hūc sese Francicum gurgitem exonerat. Continet hic Isthmus leucas admodū quingentas circuitu suo, eúmque occupant Soriqui populi. In hoc Isthmo portus regalis est, vbi nunc degimus, ad gradum latitudinis quadragesimum quartum cum besse. Sed habet portus ostium suum (ne quis fallatur) non in Oceanum ad orientem obuersum, sed in sinum eum, quem dixi Francicum: ad Occidentem & septentrionem à fluuio Sancti Ioannis vsque ad fluuium Potugoët, atque adeò vsque ad flumen Rimbegui habitant Etheminquenses. Habet Rimbegui ostia sua sub gradu quadragesimo [11] tertio cum besse. Nec procul est Chouacoët, quod alterum est latus siue brachium terræ, quod sinum Frācicum excipit. Námque ad orientem est illud, quod promontorium sabulosum nominamus: ad Occidentem Chouacoët; vtrumque ad quadragesimum tertium eleuationis gradum, cùm tamen inter hoc atque illud centum leucarum intercapedo sit: à fluuio Rimbegui[IV.] vsque ad quadragesimum gradum latè possident, qui Armouchiqui appellantur. Atque hæc ferè partitio est regionis: itáque si numeres, populi erunt septem, linguâ inter se ac studijs discrepantes; Excommunicati, Algonquini, Montagnesij, Irocosij, Soriqui, Etheminquenses, & Armouchiqui. Sed ex ijs nec Excommunicati, nec Irocosij, nec Armouchiqui multum Gallis noti sunt. Reliqui quatuor in firmam iam videntur cum ijs amicitiam & cōsuetudinem coaluisse. Pernoctant ipsi nobiscum, nos cum ipsis vagamur, venamur, viuimus sine armis, sine metu; & quod adhuc apparuerit, sine periculo. Caussa frequentandi piscatio fuit Moluarum, [12] quibus hoc mare abundat, & pellium permutatio. Nam cùm ære, ferro, cānabe, lanâ, frugibus, atqʒ omni ferè artificio Barbari careant, hæc à Gallis accipiunt. Ipsi contrà, qui vnicus thesaurus est, pelles retribuunt. Est autem regio tota magnam partem perfrigida. Caussæ sunt plures; vna quòd valde aquosa est; nam præterquam quòd vndique ferè mari alluitur, fluminibus præterea & stagnis lacubúsque maximis abundat. Insulæ ita frequentes sunt, vt ora tota ijs intercisa, & tanquam baccata sit. Hinc sequitur nimirum, vt pruinosa sit, & tamē ventosa, sed flatu non nisi ferè algido. Altera est caussa frigoris, quòd inculta sit; nam cùm latè omnia silua vna contineat, nihil mirum est, si vix vnquam possit humus calefieri. Adde his, si placet, caussam tertiam, montes videlicet niuosos ac perpetuò rigentes, quibus dicimur ab Occidente ac Septentrione procul obuallari.

These Irocois are known to the French chiefly for the perpetual
warfare which they maintain against the Montagnais and Algonquins,
allied [10] and friendly tribes. To the South, however, the coast
gradually advances up to the forty-third degree, where once more it
is interrupted by a very large bay called French bay. This gulf,
advancing far into the interior, and bending toward the North and
the gulf of St. Lawrence, forms a sort of Isthmus; and this Isthmus
is completed by the St. John, a very long river which, taking its
rise almost at the very banks of the great Canadian river, empties
into this French bay. This Isthmus has a circuit of fully five
hundred leagues and is occupied by the Soriquois tribe. In this
Isthmus is port royal, where we are now sojourning, lying on the
parallel of 44° 40'. But this port (to obviate misunderstanding)
is not on the Ocean lying eastward, but on that gulf which I have
called French bay. To the West and north, from the river of St.
John to the river Potugoët,[3] and even to the river Rimbegui,[2]
live the Etheminqui. The mouth of this river is in latitude 43°
40'. [11] Not far distant is Chouacoët,[11] which is the other
shore or arm embracing French Bay. For to the east lies what we
call cape sable, while Chouacoët lies toward the West; both are on
the forty-third parallel, though they are separated by an interval
of a hundred leagues. From the Rimbegui[III.] river to the fortieth
parallel the whole country is in the possession of the tribe called
the Armouchiquois. Such is the distribution of the territory.
The tribes amount to seven in number, differing from each other
in language and character: the Excommunicated, the Algonquins,
the Montagnais, the Irocois, the Soriquois, the Etheminqui and
the Armouchiquois. But of these neither the Excommunicated, nor
the Irocois, nor the Armouchiquois are well known to the French.
The remaining four tribes appear already to be united in firm
friendship and intimacy with them. They stay over night among us;
we rove about with them, and hunt with them and live among them
without arms and without fear; and, as has thus far appeared,
without danger. This intimacy arose partly from association while
fishing for Cod, [12] which abound in these waters, and partly
from trading in furs. For the Savages, who have neither copper,
iron, hemp, wool, vegetables nor manufactured articles of any kind,
resort to the French for them, giving in return the only thing of
value they have, namely, furs. This whole region is for the most
part very cold, owing to various causes. In the first place, the
country is a very wet one; for, besides being washed on almost
every side by the sea, it abounds in rivers and ponds and large
lakes. Islands are so numerous that the whole shore is cut up by a
confused procession of them, as it were. Moreover, though a land
of frost, it is very windy, the wind being nearly always a cold
one. Another cause of cold is the wildness of the country; for,
being covered on every side by one continuous forest, it naturally
follows that the soil hardly ever becomes really warmed through.
A third cause is the mountains, covered with snow and perpetual
frost, which are said to wall us in far away to the North and the
West.

Certè quidem ab ea parte non nisi gelu perflamur & niuibus. Alioqui sanè facies regionis est peramœna, pluribus [13] locis hospitem inuitans ac bene pollicens; & quod apparuit, si colatur, non infœcunda. Indigenæ rari sunt. Etheminquenses mille capita numerare non possent, nec multò plus Algonquini simul & Montanenses iuncti: Soriqui duo millia non conficerent: Itaque summùm quatuor capitum millibus tam vasti terrarum & littorum tractus non tenentur, sed percurruntur. Gens enim est vaga, siluestris, & sparsa, vt quæ venatu solo & piscatu viuat. Imberbes feré, & quidem statura cōmuni, vel paulò breuiore ac graciliore quàm nostri, at non degener tamen aut indecora; color non multùm fuscus, faciem vulgò pingunt, & in luctu atrant. Iuris amantes, ac vim latrociniùmque perosi. Quod sanè mirum est in hominibus, qui lege ac magistratu carent. Sui enim quisque dominus est ac vindex. Sagamos quidem habēt, hoc est bellorum ductores, sed quorum omnino precarium sit imperium, si tamen imperium appellandum est, vbi nulla est necessitas parendi. Sequuntur vel exemplo, vel vsu, vel affinitatis [14] aut generis conciliatione inducti, nonnunquam etiam certè cuiusdam potentiæ auctoritate: bella populatim gerunt, ob illatas priuatis iniurias. Genus totum vindictæ auidum; & vt barbarum, in victoriâ insolens, captiuorum capita tanquam opima spolia & torques magno gaudio circumferunt.

We certainly get nothing from that quarter but piercing winds and
snow-storms. Elsewhere, however, the appearance of the country is
very pleasing, and in many [13] places inviting to the settler and
quite promising; and, as experience has shown, it is not unfruitful
if cultivated. The natives are not numerous. The Etheminqui number
less than a thousand, the Algonquins and the Montagnais together
would not amount to much more, the Soriquois would not amount to
two thousand. Thus four thousand Indians at most roam through,
rather than occupy, these vast stretches of inland territory and
sea-shore. For they are a nomadic people, living in the forests
and scattered over wide spaces, as is natural for those who live
by hunting and fishing only. They are nearly all beardless and of
average stature, or even a little shorter and more slender than
we, but not degraded nor ill-favored in appearance; their color is
not very swarthy; they commonly paint their faces, and, when in
mourning, blacken them. They love justice and hate violence and
robbery, a thing really remarkable in men who have neither laws nor
magistrates; for, among them, each man is his own master and his
own protector. They have Sagamores, that is, leaders in war; but
their authority is most precarious, if, indeed, that may be called
authority to which obedience is in no wise obligatory. The Indians
follow them through the persuasion of example or of custom, [14] or
of ties of kindred and alliance; sometimes even through a certain
authority of power, no doubt. They wage war as a tribe on account
of wrongs done to a private individual. The whole race is very
revengeful and, after the fashion of savages, insolent in victory,
carrying about the heads of their captives as trophies and spoils
of victory.

Et quidem dicuntur humanis carnibus non abstinuisse, ídque etiamnum perhibentur & Excommunicati & Armonchiqui facere: verum ab ijs, quorum est cum Gallis consuetudo, tantum scelus procul abest.

They are even said to have been addicted to the eating of human
flesh, and the Excommunicated and Armouchiquois tribes are said to
have the same practice even now. Those, however, who are intimate
with the French are far from being guilty of so great a crime.

Religio tota certis incantationibus, choreis, & veneficijs constat; nimirum vt aut necessaria vitæ conquirant, aut inimicos amoliantur; suos habent Autmoinos, hoc est veneficos, qui malū Dæmonem consulant de vita & morte, futurorúmque euentis; & quidem sese illis mala bellua præsentem sæpe sistit, vt ipsi asserunt, vindictam annuit, renuítque, mortem inimicorum suorumvé, venationem prosperam, & cetera eiusmodi ludibria, quorum vt ne quid desit, [15] etiam somnijs fidem habent: si fortè super placito & bene auspicante somnio euigilauerint, consurgunt, vel de nocte concubia, & omen cantu ac choreis sequuntur. Templa, ædesvé sacras, ritus, cæremonias, disciplinam nullam habent, vti nec leges aut artificia politiamvé vllam, præter certos mores & consuetudinem, quorū sunt retinentissimi. Si quem Veneficus respondit ad certā diem moriturum, is deseritur ab omnibus; quin ipse adeò miser, vtpote iam mortis certus, vltro sibi inediam atque omnium incuriam indicit, credo ne videatur contra fatum pugnare.

Their whole religion consists of certain incantations, dances
and sorcery, which they have recourse to, it seems, either to
procure the necessaries of life or to get rid of their enemies;
they have Autmoinos, that is, medicine-men, who consult the evil
Spirit regarding life and death and future events; and the evil
spirit [great beast] often presents himself before them, as they
themselves assert, approves or disapproves their schemes of
vengeance, promises them the death of their enemies or friends, or
prosperity in the chase, and other mockeries of the same sort. To
make these complete they [15] even have faith in dreams; if they
happen to awake from a pleasing and auspicious dream, they rise
even in the middle of the night and hail the omen with songs and
dances. They have no temples, sacred edifices, rites, ceremonies or
religious teaching, just as they have no laws, arts or government,
save certain customs and traditions of which they are very
tenacious. If the Medicine-man predicts that a certain person will
die before a fixed date, this man is deserted by all; and, in his
misery, feeling certain of impending death, he voluntarily condemns
himself to suffer hunger and complete neglect, apparently that he
may not seem to contend against fate.

Quin etiam si fortè ad præstitutam diem, vt sæpe fit, moribundus non videatur, pro se quisqʒ proximi vrceis frigidæ in ventrem miseri inuergendis celerant mortem. Hæc pietas est Sathanæ mancipijs: ita quoque nimirùm, quia semper fallax est, diuinus nunquam fallit; quāquam natio ista deceptrix aruspicum multum iam de auctoritate suá ab aduētu Gallorum amisit; passimque nunc quiritantur suos iam Diabolos viribus exidisse, [16] præut quidam ferūt Patrum suorum fuisse temporibus. Mortuorum ita cum corpore sepeliunt memoriam, vt ne nomen quidem deinceps audire sustineant. DEI quidem vnius supremi tenuem quandam habent cognitionem, verumtamen affectibus & vsu deprauati nihilo seciùs, vt dixi, Cacodæmonem etiam colunt; ob vitæ commoda, algoris & inediæ patientes sunt supra modum. Octo, decem dies, si fors ita exigat, feram ieiuni persequūtur, summis niuibus frigoribúsqʒ tum maximè ardet venatio. Et tamen hi ipsi Boreâ, vt sic dicam, & crystallo nati, vbi semel sub suis tugurijs cum præda consederunt, inertes illico, & cuiusuis laboris impatientes fiunt: feminis mandant omnia: hæ præter onerosam liberorum educationē, gestationémque, insuper feram ex eo loco vbi ceciderit, aduehunt: hæ lignatum & aquatum eunt hæ supellectilem conficiunt, curántque: cibos apparant, feras excoriant, pelles fullonis arte conficiunt, vestimenta consuunt, piscantur & conchas maximè ad cibum legunt, sæpe [17] etiam venantur: hæ canoas, hoc est cymbulas miræ celeritatis è cortice compingunt, tuguriola, vbi & quando pernoctandum est, ædificant: denique præter laboriosiorem venationem & bella nihil aliud quidquam viris est pensi. Hac de caussa plures ferè vxores quisque habet, Sagami maximè, vt qui potentiam suam & concursum pluriū tanquam clientium tueri nequeant, non solùm sine pluribus liberis, qui valeant ad terrorem & gratiam, sed etiam sine pluribus mancipijs, quæ necessaria vitæ officia & exequantur & tolerent. Nam feminas mancipiorum loco habent, tractántqʒ. Inter se mirificè liberales sūt, nihil quisquam aut fortunarum, aut sibi habere sustineat, quin partem maximā astantibus eroget, quin etiam qui Tabagiam agit, vt loquūtur, hoc est qui conuiuio alios excipit, non accumbit ipse cum reliquis, sed ministrat, neqʒ partem aliquam dapis residuam sibi facit, sed distribuit omnia, ita vt famem cogatur eo die conuiuator pati, nisi quis inuitatorū, ex eo quod sibi superfuerit, miseratus ei [18] retribuat. Et similis apparuit sæpe liberalitas in Gallos aliquo casu oppressos. Nam erga reliquos, aut hîc aut in nauibus agentes didicerunt à nobis non facilè quicquā gratis dare. Pedunculos capitis quæsitant, & in delicijs habent. In mendicando & postulando importunissimi sunt, & qui esse solent mendicorū & inopū mores, falsi, obloquutores, assētatores, vani. Gallos quidē atqʒ omnes gentes cùm semel saturi sunt, longè despiciunt, irridéntqʒ clanculum omnia; etiam religionē, quam susceperint. Tuguriola sua vbiuis facilè ac raptim sudibus ramificè ædificant, & aut cortice aut pellibus aut etiā tegete cōtegunt. Ignis in medio extruitur. Sed hæc iam satis supérque de regione & hominibus, maximè cùm accuratam regionis Chorographiam mittam; ex quo vno intuitu, quidquid de terrarum & maris situ dixi, liquidò apparebit.

If, however, he does not appear to be in a dying condition by
the time predicted, his friends and relatives even hasten his
death by pouring jars of cold water over his stomach. Such is the
piety of these servants of Satan. Thus, no doubt because he is
always deceitful, the soothsayer never appears to deceive himself;
although this lying race of prophets have lost much of their
authority since the coming of the French, and now universally
complain that their Devils have lost much of their power, [16] if
compared with what it is said to have been in the time of their
Ancestors. They so completely bury the very remembrance of the dead
with their bodies that they will not even suffer their names to be
mentioned afterwards. Of the one supreme GOD they have a certain
slender notion, but they are so perverted by false ideas and by
custom, that, as I have said, they really worship the Devil. To
obtain the necessaries of life they endure cold and hunger in an
extraordinary manner. During eight or ten days, if the necessity
is imposed on them, they will follow the chase in fasting, and
they hunt with the greatest ardor when the snow is deepest and
the cold most severe. And yet these same Savages, the offspring,
so to speak, of Boreas and the ice, when once they have returned
with their booty and installed themselves in their tents, become
indolent and unwilling to perform any labor whatever, imposing
this entirely upon the women. The latter, besides the onerous rôle
of bearing and rearing the children, also transport the game from
the place where it has fallen; they are the hewers of wood and
drawers of water; they make and repair the household utensils;
they prepare food; they skin the game and prepare the hides like
fullers; they sew garments; they catch fish and gather shellfish
for food; often [17] they even hunt; they make the canoes, that is,
skiffs of marvelous rapidity, out of bark; they set up the tents
wherever and whenever they stop for the night--in short, the men
concern themselves with nothing but the more laborious hunting and
the waging of war. For this reason almost every one has several
wives, and especially the Sagamores, since they cannot maintain
their power and keep up the number of their dependents unless they
have not only many children to inspire fear or conciliate favor,
but also many slaves to perform patiently the menial tasks of every
sort that are necessary. For their wives are regarded and treated
as slaves. These Savages are extremely liberal toward each other;
no one is willing to enjoy any good fortune by himself, but makes
his friends sharers in the larger part of it; and whoever receives
guests at what they call a Tabagie does not himself sit down with
the others, but waits on them, and does not reserve any portion
of the food for himself but distributes all; so that the host is
constrained to suffer hunger during that day, unless some one of
his guests takes pity on him [18] and gives him back a portion of
what remains over from his own share. And they have often shown
the same liberality toward the French, when they have found them
in distress. For they have learned from us that, toward others
than these, whether here or in the ships, nothing is readily given
away. They hunt after the lice in their heads and regard them as a
dainty. They are most importunate beggars and, after the fashion
of beggars and needy people, they are hypocritical--contradicting,
flattering and lying to achieve their ends. But when once they have
gotten their fill they go off, mocking the French and everybody
else at a distance and secretly laughing at everything, even the
religion which they have received. They set up their tents easily
and quickly in any place with branching stakes, which they cover
either with bark or skins or even with mats. The fire is built in
the middle. But this is enough, and more than enough, regarding the
country and the people, especially as I send an accurate Map of the
region, a single glance at which will make clear whatever I have
said regarding the geography of land and sea.[12]

NVNC ad id venio, quod secundo loco proposui, vt scilicet explicem, quanam tandem via Societas missionem in hanc prouinciam obtinuerit. Et quidem nostri [19] Burdigalenses pro suo animarum zelo à multis retro annis huc respectârant, huc intenderant, vt miseræ nationi opem ferrent: sed pios eorum & ardentes conatus, quos periculi facies non terreret, diu subsidiorum ad agendum inopia frustrata est. Restituta demum in Galliam Societate, agere seriò per P. Cotonum cum Magno Henrico cœperunt, sibi vt liceret in his quoque regionibus laborare, & amplexus est Rex Societatis amans tam piam & propensam voluntatem, sed nihilominus tamen vtilibus consilijs longa adhuc & odiosa mora interuenit. Nulli adhuc Galli regionem incolebant, commorandi animo, & qui antè à Rege missus fuerat, explorandi tentandíque caussâ, alienus à sacris nostris erat, & ijs postmodum rebus, non solùm infectis, sed etiam prope desperatis domum in Galliam redijt: iussit tamen Princeps inuictus ne desponderemus animum, mittendi solùm destinarentur, moniturum se cùm maturum foret; atque adeò vt arrha quædam esset sponsionis, pecuniam ex eo tēpore in [20] viaticum assignauit. Sed hæc agentibus, ecce pij Regis funesta mors intercedit. Nō defuit DEVS sub idem anni tempus: ad nouum regem nuntij rediêrunt ab eo, qui anno superiore in has sibi terras coloniā depoposcerat.

Now I shall enter upon my second topic and explain by what means
the Society finally secured the sending of a mission to this
province. It is true that our adherents at [19] Bordeaux, in their
zeal for the saving of souls, had looked forward to this, and
had aimed at this for many years back, namely, at bringing help
to this wretched race. But their pious and ardent efforts, which
recoiled before no danger, were long frustrated by lack of means
for prosecuting them. When our Society was at last re-admitted
into France, they began to negotiate in earnest with Henry the
Great, through Father Coton, to obtain permission to labor in
these regions also, and the King, so full of good-will toward
our Society, espoused this pious and important project; but,
nevertheless, the taking of active steps was preceded by a long and
vexatious delay. No Frenchmen as yet inhabited this region with the
purpose of settling here, and such as had been sent by the King as
explorers and in a tentative way, being indifferent to our holy
aims, had soon returned to France, leaving these things not only
unaccomplished but even almost hopeless. But our Prince, undeterred
by these considerations, bade us be of good heart, and promised,
if we would but designate those who were to be sent, that he would
let us know when he deemed the time opportune; and, as an earnest
of his promise, from that time forward he assigned to us a sum of
money for the [20] voyage. But at this point, unhappily, occurred
the tragic death of the King. Yet at this very season GOD came to
our help. Some messengers came to the new king from the man who
last year solicited the royal permission to found a colony in this
country.

Is est Ioannes Biencurtius, vulgò Potrincurtius, nobilis & magni animi vir. Ergo accepta occasione agitur cum Regina Regente Maria Medicæa, maximæ pietatis heroina, vt quæ maritus tanta virtute destinâsset, per eam efficerentur, daretur locus duobus è Nostris in eâ naui, quæ proximè huc esset ventura. Annuit Regina, munificéque respondit desiderio. Ergo statim ex Aquitania euocatus Sacerdos vnus, alter ex ipsa Francia desumptus. Sed ecce rursum moras, rursum sese Sathanas excitat. Dieppâ erat soluendum, & ea nauis, quæ huc vela faciebat ita erat mercatoribus Hæreticis obnoxia, vt sine ipsis commouere se non posset. Ergo ij simul ac Nostros vident, negant enimuerò præcisè sese passuros, vt rudens expediatur, si Iesuitæ nauigaturi sint. Obtenditur [21] Reginæ imperium, interponitur etiam Gubernatoris auctoritas. Itur, reditúrque ad Reginam, & ab ea literæ, mandatáque afferuntur, sed obstinationem hæreticam, vt Ecclesiæ, ita nec Regum frangit aut permouet auctoritas. Hæc peruicacia benignissimorum Principum illustriorē pietatam fecit. Namque Antonia Pontia Marchionissa Guercheuilia matrona clarissima, & vt appellant, filiarum Reginæ gubernatrix, vbi has tricas audijt, pro suo in DEVM & Societatem amore, non dubitauit à maximis quibusqʒ totius curiæ eleemosynam petere eo nomine, vt victâ hæreticorum contumaciâ Iesuitis liceret in has terras proficisci. Nec difficile ei fuit, in pia caussa suapte sponte propensam Catholicorum Principum benignitatem allicere: breui summa confecta est librarum quatuor millium. Ea & hæreticorum repulit iniquitatem, & Nostros in nauim non iam vt hospites, sed vt magna ex parte Dominos, potentésqʒ imposuit. Ita nimirum Christus, vt solet, per hostium impugnationem cōfirmauit suos, [22] per iniquitatem auxilijs necessarijs instruxit, & per machinationes, atque opprobria è tenebris atque ignobilitate vindicauit: ipsi gloria in sæcula. Amen.

This man is Jean Biencourt, commonly called Potrincourt, of noble
birth and a magnanimous man. Accordingly, seizing this opportunity,
we made overtures to the Queen Regent, Marie de Médicis, that most
pious and exalted lady, begging her to execute what her husband
had so piously purposed by giving a place to two of our Fathers
in the ship which was to sail shortly for this place. The Queen
assented, and responded to our request most liberally. Accordingly
one Priest was immediately summoned from Aquitaine, and another was
chosen in France. But lo! Satan rouses himself again, and again
interposes new delay. We were to sail from Dieppe, but the ship
that was to bear us to this country was so completely under the
influence of Heretical merchants that it could not stir without
their consent. Accordingly, as soon as they saw our Priests they
refused outright to let the ship sail if the Jesuits were to embark
in it. The order of the [21] Queen was alleged, and the authority
of the Governor was interposed. Recourse was had to the Queen, and
letters and orders were obtained from her; but even Royal authority
is, like that of the Church, unable to break or bend heretical
obstinacy. This stubborn resistance lent all the more lustre to the
piety of our benignant Rulers. For Antoinette de Pons, Marchioness
de Guercheville, a most illustrious lady, and governess to the
daughters of the Queen, on learning these petty hindrances did
not hesitate, in her love for GOD and for our Society, to ask in
his name for aid from some of the greatest men in the council of
this realm, that the contumacy of the heretics might be subdued
and the Jesuits permitted to sail to this land. Nor did she have
any difficulty in gaining the good-will of the Catholic Princes,
inclined of their own accord to sympathize with this holy cause;
in a word, the sum of four thousand livres was collected. This
not only put an end to the iniquitous resistance of the heretics,
but gave our Priests the influence of Masters rather than of mere
passengers in the ship. Thus, no doubt Christ, as usual, has
strengthened his own followers through the attacks of enemies;[22]
through their iniquity he has furnished aid to his own children and
protected them from the darkness and the baseness of their foes,
even through their intrigues and insult; his be the glory forever
and ever. Amen.

Dieppâ soluimus incommodissimo tempore, vigesimo sexto Ianuarij Anni huius CIↃ.IↃD.XI. Nauis erat non magna, & haud satis instructa, nautæ ex magna parte hæretici; & vt hyeme in procelloso mari, multis grauissimísqʒ tempestatibus perfuncti sumus, tenuítqʒ nauigatio menses ipsos quatuor. Ex quibus apparet, quàm multa omnis generis perferenda fuerint. Certè alter nostrûm magnam itineris partem æger, debilitatúsque iacuit. Conati tamen sumus consueta Societatis munia exhibere. Manè ac vespere ad orationem vectores conuocabantur quotidie: festis etiam officia quædam Ecclesiastica decantabantur; sæpe habebantur cohortationes piæ, interdum nonnullæ cum hæreticis disputationes: iurandi cōsuetudo & verborū lasciuia reprimebatur. Non omittebantur multa simul humilitatis, simul charitatis exempla.

We sailed from Dieppe in a most unfavorable season, on the 26th
of January, of this year 1611. The ship was not large and was
insufficiently equipped; the sailors were mostly heretics. As it
was winter and the sea was stormy, we encountered many severe
tempests and the voyage lasted four whole months, from which
it is apparent how many sufferings of every kind we underwent.
Indeed, during the greater portion of the voyage one or the other
of us lay sick and debilitated. Yet we attempted to discharge
the usual duties, of our Society. Morning and evening, every
day, the passengers were called together for prayer; on holidays
certain Ecclesiastical services were held, pious exhortations were
frequently made, and sometimes disputations with the heretics
took place. The habit of swearing and using obscene language was
repressed. Nor were there wanting many examples of humility and of
charity.

[23] Denique illud DEI beneficio obtentum est, vt Hæretici, qui nos antè velut monstra è suorū videlicet ore Ministrorum reputabant, non solùm agnouerint suorum in hac re impostorum malitiam, sed etiam multis postea locis laudum nostrarum prædicatores extiterint; hic ergo summatim fuit noster in has terras ingressus.

[23] Finally, with GOD'S blessing, we brought the Heretics, who,
evidently through the preaching of their own Pastors, regarded us
as monsters, to recognize the malice of these impostors in this
matter, so that they afterwards on many occasions stood up to
proclaim our praises. Such, in brief, was our voyage to this land.

SEQVITVR iam ex initio propositis tertium, nimirum vt exponatur, quonam tandē loco rem Christianam his in locis offenderimus. Certé ante hoc tempus vix vnquam à Gallis vacatum fuit conuertēdis incolarum ad Christum animis. Obstabant multa. Nam & peregrinabantur huc tantùm, non cōmorabantur: & qui commorari voluerunt, tam aduersis conflictati sunt casibus, vt ei rei dare operam sanè multam non potuerint. Deuehebantur duntaxat interdum nonnulli in Galliam, ibíq; baptizabantur, sed ijdem vt nec satis instituti, & à pastoribus destituti, simul ac in has oras remigrauerant, ad solita prorsus & vsitata reuoluebantur. Appulimus huc nos [24] vigesimâ secundâ Maij, ipso sacro Pentecostes die, anni huius CIↃ.IↃC.XI. Quo duntaxat anno is, quem sæpius appellare necesse est, D. Potrincurtius ad sedes hîc domiciliúmqʒ figendum peruenerat, secúmqʒ Sacerdotem sæcularem aduexerat. Is Sacerdos per eum annum dicitur capita ferè centum baptimo initiauisse; in his celebrem inter Sagamos, & de quo nos infra plura dicemus, Henricum Membertou cum familia vniuersa, hoc est cum tribus liberis iam cōiugibus. Sed, vt fit, cùm nec Sacerdos ipse, nec alius quisquam linguam nôsset, nisi quātum attinet ad vitæ & mercimoniorum necessitatem, erudiri videlicet neophyti non potuerunt.

NOW FOLLOWS the third of the topics proposed in the beginning--the
setting forth, namely, of the condition in which we found the
Christian religion in this country. Certainly before this time
scarcely any attention has ever been given by the French to
converting the souls of the natives to Christ. There have been many
obstacles. For the French only wandered through these regions, but
did not remain here, and those who wished to remain were harassed
by so many calamities that they assuredly could not give much
thought to this matter. Some natives, it is true, were occasionally
brought to France and baptized there, but these not being
sufficiently instructed, and finding themselves without shepherds
as soon as they returned to these shores, immediately resumed their
former habits and traditions. We landed here [24] on the 22nd of
May, on the holyday of Pentecost of this year 1611. In this very
same year Sieur Potrincourt, whom I shall have occasion to mention
several times, had come here to establish himself permanently, and
had brought a secular Priest with him. This Priest, it is said,
baptized nearly a hundred persons during the year, among them one
of the most celebrated of the Chiefs, of whom we shall have to
speak again later, Henry Membertou, with his whole family, that is,
three children already married. But, since neither this Priest nor
any one else knew their language, save so far as pertains to the
merest necessities of intercourse and trade, the neophytes could of
course not be instructed in our doctrines.

Baptismum accipiebant velut sacrum aliquod signum similitudinis & confœderationis cum Gallis. De Christo, de Ecclesia, de Fide ac Symbolo, mandatis DEI, oratione ac Sacramentis vix quidquam nouerant, ignari & crucis efformandæ, & ipsius nominis Christiani. Itaque nunc vulgò sciscitantibus nobis, Christianus es? negat optimus quisque, [25] scire se quid rogetur. Mutata interrogatione quærentibus, baptizatus es? Annuit vero ac propemodum sese iam Nortmannum pronuntiat; nam Gallos ferè omnes Nortmannos appellitant. De cætero nulla omnino in Christianis à Gentilium ritu mutatio. Iidem mores, consuetudo & vita, idem chorearum, rituum, cantuum, atque adeò veneficiorum vsus, prorsus antiqua omnia. De vno DEO & bonorum retributione docti sunt aliqua, sed quæ se ipsi semper ita audiuisse & credidisse profiteantur. Sacellum reperimus vnum valde angustum & miserum, sed nec profectò reliqua habitatio, vt in principijs, aut valde laxa aut commoda est.

They accepted baptism as a sort of sacred pledge of friendship and
alliance with the French. As regards Christ, the Church, the Faith
and the Symbol, the commandments of GOD, prayer and the Sacraments,
they knew almost nothing; nor did they know the sign of the cross
or the very name of Christian. So, even now, whenever we ask any
one, "Are you a Christian?" every one of them answers that he does
not understand what [25] we are asking him. But when we change
the form of our question and ask, "Are you baptized?" he assents
and declares himself to be already almost a Norman, for they call
the French in general Normans. In other respects there is almost
no change from the religion of the Gentiles to Christianity. They
keep up the same manners and traditions and mode of life, the same
dances and rites and songs and sorcery; in fact, all their previous
customs. Concerning the one GOD and the reward of the just, they
have learned some things, but they declare that they had always
heard and believed thus. We found one little chapel here, a very
small and poor one, but the other dwellings also, as is to be
expected among new settlers, are by no means large or commodious.

Vnica hîc adest D. Potrincurtij familia, sine feminis capita sumus viginti. Nos duo é Societate tuguriolum habemus ligneum, in quo vix positâ mensâ commouere nos possumus. Et reliqua sunt huic certè habitationi ac nostræ professioni, hoc est, paupertati cōsentanea. Vtinam ab humilibus principijs exurgat aliquādo, & efflorescat salus animorum; [26] huc incumbimus, sed vt languidi cultores non magno successu, qualis tamen, quantúsque is fuerit, hoc mihi iam narrandum est, quoniam id iam explicui, quod tertium erat ex propositis, videlicet quonam in statu vineam hanc seu potiùs virgultum offenderimus.

Sieur Potrincourt's family is the only one here; without the women
we number twenty. We two of the Society have a wooden cabin in
which we can scarcely turn around when we have a table in it.
And everything else is certainly in keeping with our dwelling
and our vocation in life, that is, poverty. God grant that from
these humble beginnings may rise and greatly flourish the work of
salvation; [26] to this we bend all our efforts, though, as we are
but feeble workers, with no great success. What the nature and
extent of this success has been I must now relate, since I have
already treated my third topic, namely, the description of the
state in which we found this vineyard, or rather this wildwood.

PERVENIMVS huc (sicut antè numeratum est) vigesimâ secundâ Maij. Itaque non multo plus hodie, quàm septem menses hic commorati sumus. Per hoc igitur tempus, & domi aliqua gesta sunt, & foris. Domi primùm dedimus operam, vt pro nostris viribus officium Ecclesiasticum ne deesset. Nam Sacerdos ille, qui huc ante nos aduenerat, à nostro statim aduētu in Galliam sua ipse sponte & pro veteri desiderio remigrauit. Dominicis festísque diebus solemnem missam & vesperas decantamus, cohortamur, & nonnunquam procedimus, ipsis etiam nostrorum siluicolarum pueris cereos, vrceos, aut aliud quid pium, quando hîc adsunt, præferentibus. Ita enim paulatim nostris ceremonijs assuescunt. Solemnior ea processio fuit, qua [27] sanctissimum Sacramentum festo ipsi die cumtulimus. Ipse enim D. Potrincurtius sedulitatem in eo nostram collaudauit, sicut & in sacello, quantum potest, in tanta paupertate coornando. Et quoniam animaduertimus eos, qui antè baptizati essent, vix aliud quidquam cum baptismate, nisi periculum maius suscepisse, prolectationem illam proiectionémqʒ ad baptisma quomodocumqʒ offerendum reiecimus, in eóque perstamus, ne quis adultus ante necessariam suæ fidei professionísque cognitionem initietur. Ita cùm adhuc ignari linguæ simus, neque per vllum interpretem enuntiare sacra nostra, aut scriptis mandare potuerimus, quantacumque in eo sit opera, vti sanè posita est plurima cursus nimirum Euangelij in his hactenus hæret vadis ac syrtibus. Id suademus, vt infantes ad nos lustrandi afferantur, quod etiam DEI beneficio iam cœpit fieri. Duos baptizauimus, & tertiam puellam circiter nouennem. Hæc puella non magis morbo, quàm esurie neglectúque contabescebat; solet enim hæc natio facilè desperare medicinam, [28] & desperatos prorsum abijcere, vt antè dictum est. Ergo hanc ita depositam à cognatis deposcimus ad baptismum, illi verò perlibenter eam nobis concedere, non ad baptismum solùm, sed etiam ad voluntatem, vt quæ, inquiebant, instar iam esset canis mortui. At nos, vt specimen daremus Christianæ pietatis, in separatum eam transtulimus tuguriolum, ibíqʒ eam aluimus & curauimus ipsi sedulò, institutámque quantum extremo periculo conflictanti necesse esset, abluimus aquâ salutari. Nono demum pòst die abeuntem ad superos læta spe sumus prosecuti, cùm gauderemus cœlo iam nonnihil nostri laboris placere. Lætior exitus in alio fuit, sed exemplum non dissimile charitatis: hic est, secundò genitus celebris illius Sagami Membertou, quem antè diximus primū omnium Soricorum nostra sacra suscepisse.

WE ARRIVED here, as already noted, on the 22nd of May. Accordingly,
we have now sojourned here a little more than seven months. During
this period we have accomplished some work both at home and
abroad. Our first efforts we expended at home, so that, as far as
it lay in our power, there might be no interruption of Religious
services. For the secular Priest who had preceded us here,
immediately on our arrival, of his own free will and in accordance
with a long-cherished desire, had returned to France. On Sundays
and holydays we celebrate solemn mass and vespers; we preach and
sometimes have processions, the boys of our children of the forest
carrying before us, when they are present here, tapers and censers
and other sacred utensils. For thus, little by little, they become
accustomed to our ceremonies. Our procession was, however, a more
solemn one on the day of Corpus Christi when we carried about the
[27] blessed Sacrament. Sieur Potrincourt himself praised highly
our efforts in this, as well as in adorning our chapel as much as
we could, in spite of our great poverty. Since we have observed
that those who had been previously baptized had gotten scarcely
anything else through their baptism than increased peril, we have
restrained this eager inclination to administer this sacrament
without discrimination, and we insist that no adult person shall
receive it until he has the necessary understanding of his faith
and his profession. So, as we have thus far been ignorant of the
language and have been unable to explain our doctrines through any
interpreter, or to commit them to writing, howsoever great a labor
that may prove--and it will certainly prove a great one--the course
of the Gospel is, up to this point, embarrassed by these shoals and
quicksands. We try to persuade the savages to bring their babes to
us for baptism; and this, with GOD'S blessing, they are beginning
to do. We have baptized two boys, and a girl about nine years
old. This girl was wasting away as much from hunger and neglect
as from sickness; for this people very readily despair [28] of
relief in sickness, and, as previously stated, soon abandon those
whose recovery is deemed hopeless. Thus, when this girl was given
up by her relatives, we asked that she be given us for baptism.
They very willingly gave her to us, not only for baptism but to
dispose of at our pleasure as being, they said, no longer of more
value than a dead dog. But we, to show them an example of Christian
piety, carried her to a separate cabin and there fed her and cared
for her; and, after teaching her as much as was necessary for one
struggling with death, we cleansed her with the saving waters. On
her death, nine days later, we entertained the glad hope that our
labor had found some favor in heaven. We soon found opportunity for
another deed of charity not dissimilar to this, though its result
was more auspicious. This was in the case of the second son of that
famous Chief Membertou, whom I have already mentioned as having
received our doctrines first of all the Soriquois.

Huius ego filium extremo iam discrimine periclitantem inuisi: reperio pro more veteri de ipsius bonis tabagiam, hoc est epulum solemne, vt scilicet post epulas non sicut Iacob benediceret suis, [29] sed valediceret, ac deinde cōclamaretur, & cōclamato canes præmitterentur ad interitū. Increpaui ego, vt potui, per interpretē paganicos hos mores in iam Christianis. Benignè respōdit pater ipse Membertou neophytos se esse, verum imperarem; in mea potestate esse omnia. Negaui ego licitam esse illam occisionē canum, aut deplorati derelictionem; choreas, cantusvé funestos ægroto ipso inspectāte mihi non placere; ipsam alioqui tabagiam, & piam in extremis agētis consalutationem ac mandata permisi. Responderunt omnes sibi hoc satis esse, reliqua sese reiecturos. Cæterum D. Potrincurtij nomine ipsos inuitaui, vt ægrū in ipsius ædes deportarēt (aberat enim valde procul) sperare nos de misericordia DEI fore, vt conualescat, quò tandē intelligant falsas atqʒ impias esse, aut momorū suorū, hoc est fatidicorū denunciationes. Paruerunt illi, atqʒ ad nos depositum triduo pòst, hoc est semianimē detulerunt. Quid multa? Fecit dextera Dñi virtutem: non est mortuus, sed vixit; & nunc incolumis narrat opera [30] Dñi. Hoc exemplo commotus senior ipse Membertou cum eam invaletudinem sensisset, quæ postrema illi fuit, deportari ipse vltro, ad nos voluit, atqʒ adeò in nostrum ipsorum tuguriolū, & si placet, in lectum ipsum alterius nostrū. Ibi decumbentem quinqʒ dies prosecuti sumus omni nō solum officio, sed etiam famulatu. At sexto die cùm iam vxor eius aduenisset, & cerneret ipsa vix alteri nostrū, quo miserè humi decubaret, locum esse in tuguriolo derelictū, aliò suapte sponte demigrauit, vbi & piam mortē obijt. Certè hunc reperimus (quippe Domini primitias ab hac gēte) præter cæteros mirabiliter solitū intrinsecus adeò moueri, multò vt ipse plus de nostra fide conciperet, quàm quantū potuisset auditione accipere. Itaqʒ solebat ipse crebrò dictitare, valde optare se, vt citò linguā nossemus. Continuò. n. postquam id perdidicisset, se futurū apud gentem suam cœlestis verbi ac doctrinæ prædicatorem. Dederat ipse in mādatis, vt antiquo in monumēto cū demortua prius familia (quā sciebā paganicè obijsse) [31] sepeliretur. Ego rē improbaui, veritus scilicet, ne vel Galli, vel etiā Gētiles hoc interpretarētur in fidei nostræ iniuriā. Sed ille hoc respōdebat: ita sibi promissū fuisse, antequā Christo nomen daret, fore, vt locus cōsecraretur, & exemplū proferebat ex anteactis non dissimile; alioqui. n. cōtrà se vereri, si nostro in cœmeterio humaretur, ne sui deinceps locū refugerent, atqʒ ita nunquā ad nos redirent. Opposui ego contrà, ̄q potui, & mecū is, quo ferè solo vtor interprete, D. Biencurtius, fili^{9} D. Potrincurtij. Discessi mœstus: nihil. n. disputando profecerā. Extremā nihilominus vnctionem, ad quā paratus erat, non denegaui. Valuit vis Sacramēti: postridie D. Biencurtiū, mêqʒ magnopere aduocat, docet audiētibus omnib^{9} mutatā sibi sententiā, velle se nobiscū humari, suísqʒ ̄pcipere, ne ideo locū refugiant ex veteri errore, quin poti^{9}, è Christiani populi sapiētia magis ob eam ipsam caussam locū adament, frequenténtque; ad pias videlicet pro ipso preces effundēdas.