There were also two Jesuits sent out to win the
new domain for the cross.[5] As ignorant as children of the hardships
ahead, the other treasure-seekers kept up nonchalant boasting that
roused the irony of such seasoned men as Radisson and Groseillers.
"What fairer bastion than a good tongue," Radisson demands cynically,
"especially when one sees his own chimney smoke? . . . It is different
when food is wanting, work necessary day and night, sleep taken on the
bare ground or to mid-waist in water, with an empty stomach, weariness
in the bones, and bad weather overhead."
Giving the slip to their noisy companions, Radisson and Groseillers
stole out from Three Rivers late one night in June, accompanied by
Algonquin guides. Travelling only at night to avoid Iroquois spies,
they came to Montreal in three days. Here were gathered one hundred
and forty Indians from the Upper Country, the thirty French, and the
two priests. No gun was fired at Montreal, lest the Mohawks should get
wind of the departure; and the flotilla of sixty canoes spread over
Lake St. Louis for the far venture of the _Pays d'en Haut_. Three days
of work had silenced the boasting of the gay adventurers; and the
_voyageurs_, white and red, were now paddling in swift silence. Safety
engendered carelessness. As the fleet seemed to be safe from Iroquois
ambush, the canoes began to scatter. Some loitered behind. Hunters
went ashore to shoot. The hills began to ring with shot and call.
Pages:
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87