I saw this girl, eight or nine years old, all benumbed and nothing but skin and bone. I asked the parents to give her to me to baptize. They answered that if I wished to have her they would give her up to me entirely. For to them she was no better than a dead dog. They spoke like this because they are accustomed to abandon altogether those whom they have once judged incurable. We accepted the offer, so that they might see the difference between [51] Christianity and their ungodliness. We had this poor skeleton brought into one of the cabins of the settlement, where we cared for and nourished her as well as we could, and when she had been fairly well instructed we baptized her. She was named Antoynette de Pons, in grateful remembrance of the many favors we have received and are receiving from Madame la Marquise de Guercheville, who may rejoice that already her name is in heaven, for a few days after baptism this chosen soul flew away to that glorious place. Ce luy aussy fut nostre premier né, sur lequel nous avons pu dire ce que Ioseph prononça sur le sien, que Dieu nous avoit faict oublier tous nos travaux passés et la maison de nostre Père. Mais à propos de ce que les Sauvages abandonnent leurs malades, une autre occasion de semblablement exercer la charité chrestienne envers ces délaissés, a eu son issüe plus joyeuse, et profitable pour détromper ces nations. Cette occasion fut telle. This was also our firstborn, for whose sake we could say, as Joseph did about his, that God had made us forget all our past hardships and the homes of our Fathers. But in speaking of the Savages abandoning their sick, another similar occasion to exercise charity toward those who are deserted has had a more happy issue and one more useful in undeceiving these people. This occasion was as follows: