In Paris and London Radisson had
been harassed by jealousy. In the wilderness he was master of
circumstance; but a surprise awaited him at Groseillers' fort.
The French habitation--called Fort Bourbon--had been built on the north
shore of Hayes or Ste. Therese River. Directly north, overland, was
another broad river with a gulflike entrance. This was the Nelson.
Between the two rivers ran a narrow neck of swampy, bush-grown land.
The day that Radisson returned to the newly erected fort, there rolled
across the marshes the ominous echo of cannon-firing. Who could the
newcomers be? A week's sail south at the head of the bay were the
English establishments of the Hudson's Bay Company. The season was far
advanced. Had English ships come to winter on Nelson River? Ordering
Jean Groseillers to go back inland to the Indians, Radisson launched
down Hayes River in search of the strange ship. He went to the salt
water, but saw nothing. Upon returning, he found that Jean Groseillers
had come back to the fort with news of more cannonading farther inland.
Radisson rightly guessed that the ship had sailed up Nelson River,
firing cannon as she went to notify Indians for trade. Picking out
three intrepid men, Radisson crossed the marsh by a creek which the
Indian canoes used, to go to Nelson River.[7] Through the brush the
scout spied a white tent on an island. All night the Frenchmen lay in
the woods, watching their rivals and hoping that some workman might
pass close enough to be seized and questioned.
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