say, he at once promised me that, during the winter, he would give me all the help that I could ask of him. Now in this a special providence of God must be admired, because it must be observed that the General[21] was ordered by his associates to send him back to France, or else to reduce his wages; and he [the interpreter] begged him so earnestly to return the same year that we arrived, that the General was compelled to use imperative authority, and to tell him that his wages would [11] not be reduced, to make him stay this year; and, in fact, he remained, to our great satisfaction. _Secundo notandum_; This Interpreter had never wanted to communicate his knowledge of the language to any one, not even to the Reverend Recolect Fathers, who had constantly importuned him for ten years; and yet he promised me what I have told you, the first time I urged him to do so, and he kept his promise faithfully during that Winter. However, as we did not feel certain that he would keep his word, and fearing the Winter would pass and we would make no progress in the language, I consulted with our Fathers as to the propriety of two of us going to spend the Winter with the Savages, far into the depths of the forest, in order that, by constant association with them, we might gain the knowledge we sought. Our Fathers were of the opinion that it would be sufficient for one to go, and that the other ought to remain to attend to the spiritual needs of the French. So this good fortune fell to the lot of Father Brebeuf.[30] He left on the 20th of October and returned on the 27th of March, having been distant from us 20 or 25 leagues all the time. During his absence I reminded the Interpreter of his promise, which he did not fail to keep. I had hardly learned from him what I desired, when I determined to go and spend the remainder of the Winter with the first Savage who should come to see us. So I went off with one on the 8th of January, but I was compelled to return 11 days later; for, as they could not find enough for themselves to eat, they were compelled to come back to the French. As soon as I returned, I lost no time in urging the Interpreter of another Tribe to teach me what he knew; and I was astonished that he should do it so freely, as in the past he had been so reserved in regard to the Reverend Recolet Fathers. He gave us all that we asked for; it is quite true that we did not ask all that we would have wished; as we noticed in him a mind somewhat coarse, it would not have been to our advantage to have urged him beyond his depth. We were, however, highly pleased with what he gave us; and what is noteworthy, in order to better recognize the providence of God in this matter, this very Interpreter was to return to France the same year that we arrived, and this was to be done through the