ever, republished, in 1858, by the Canadian government, in three large octavo volumes.1 These form but a part of the surviving writ ings of the French-American Jesuits. Many additional reports, memoirs, journals, and letters, official and private, have come down to us; some of which have recently been printed, while others remain in manuscript. Nearly every prominent actor in the scenes to be described has left his own record of events in which he bore part, in the shape of reports to his Superiors or letters to his friends. I have studied and compared these authorities, as well as a great mass of collateral evidence, with more than usual care, striving to secure the greatest possible accuracy of statement, and to reproduce an image of the past with photographic clearness and truth. The introductory chapter of the volume is independent of the rest; but a knowledge of the facts set forth in it is essential to the full understanding of the narrative which follows. In the collection of material, I have received 1 Both editions- the old and the new- are cited in the following pages. Where the reference is to the old edition, it is indicated by the name of the publisher (Cramoisy), appended to the citation, in brackets. In extracts given in the notes, the antiquated orthography and accentuation are preserved. valuable aid from Mr. J. G. Shea, Rev. Felix I propose to devote the next volume of this series to the discovery and occupation by the French of the Valley of the Mississippi. BOSTON, 1st May, 1867. i CONTENTS. Divisions.-The Algonquins. - The Hurons: their Houses; For- tifications; Habits; Arts; Women; Trade; Festivities; Medi- cine. The Tobacco Nation. The Neutrals. The Eries. -The Andastes. - The Iroquois : Social and Political Organ- Le Jeune joins the Indians. - The First Encampment. - The Hurons at Quebec. - Councils. The Jesuit Chapel. - Le Borgue. The Jesuits thwarted. Their Perseverance. · The Huron Mission-house: its Inmates; its Furniture; its Guests. The Jesuit as a Teacher,-As an Engineer.- Bap- Enthusiasm for the Mission. Sickness of the Priests. The Jean de Brébeuf. — Charles Garnier. -Joseph Marie Chaumonot. Ossossané. - The New Chapel. - A Triumph of the Faith. The Nether Powers. Signs of a Tempest. - Slanders. Rage against the Jesuits. - Their Boldness and Persistency. |