Secondly, except this village there was only la Rochelle at which we might have had any inclination to stop, and that had been our intention from last year. All the inhabitants desired it very much, and invited us there, saying that we would be, as it were, in the center of the Nation, and adding other motives and reasons which pleased us well. Even on the road I entertained this thought, and only laid it aside a long time after my arrival here,--so long, indeed, that we left for a considerable space of time the baggage of Father Daniel at this village of la Rochelle, with the Captain who [149] had received him into his canoe,--intending to carry the rest thither, and to abide there. But, having taken into account that they were intending this Spring to change the location of the place, as they have already done, we did not wish to build a cabin for one winter. Besides, although it is a desirable thing to gather more fruit, and to have more listeners in our assemblies, which would make us choose the large villages rather than the small, nevertheless, for a beginning we have thought it more suitable to keep in the shadow, as it were, near a little village where the inhabitants are already disposed to associate with the French, than to put ourselves suddenly in a great one, where the people are not accustomed to our mode of doing things. To do otherwise would have been to expose new men, ignorant of the language, to a [150] numerous youth, who by their annoyances and mockery would have brought about some disturbance. Besides, if we had gone elsewhere the people of this village would have thought themselves still in disgrace with the French, and perhaps would have abandoned trade with them,--especially as during this last Winter Le Borgne,[30] of the Island, spread the report that Monsieur de Champlain did not wish us to remain there, on account of the death of Brulé, and that he was demanding four heads; and it is probable that, if we had not been here, and if we had not remained as pledges, several, fearing to be arrested for their own faults or for those of others, would not have returned again to the trade. Besides, these good people have claimed that we ought to remain among them if it were true that we loved them; "for," said they, [151] "if you go elsewhere, not only shall we have cause to fear on our own account, but for the whole Country besides, our interests being bound together. But, now that you take us for your hosts, we have no longer to fear as we would; for if you had chosen another place, and if some wicked person had done you harm, not only the French but the Hurons also would have blamed us for it." I might bring forward some other reasons and considerations which are not to be despised,--as, for example, it would be a more convenient place,