The
convert Huron had heard the Jesuits tell of Noah's ark in the deluge.
Returning to the Mohawks, he spread a terrifying report of an impending
flood and of strange arks of refuge built by the white men. Emissaries
were appointed to visit the French fort; but the garrison had been
forewarned. Radisson knew of the coming spies from his Indian father;
and the Jesuits had learned of the Council from their converts. Before
the spies arrived, the French had built a floor over their flatboats,
and to cover the fresh floor had heaped up a dozen canoes. The spies
left the fort satisfied that neither a deluge nor an escape was
impending. Birch canoes would be crushed like egg-shells if they were
run through the ice jams of spring floods. Certain that their victims
were trapped, the Iroquois were in no haste to assault a double-walled
fort, where musketry could mow them down as they rushed the hilltop.
The Indian is bravest under cover; so the Mohawks spread themselves in
ambush on each side of the narrow river and placed guards at the falls
where any boats must be _portaged_.
Of what good were the boats? To allay suspicion of escape, the Jesuits
continued to visit the wigwams.[6] The French were in despair. They
consulted Radisson, who could go among the Mohawks as with a charmed
life, and who knew the customs of the Confederacy so well. Radisson
proposed a way to outwit the savages. With this plan the priests had
nothing to do.
Pages:
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74