Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 03Champlain, Samuel de
History
Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 03
Champlain, Samuel de
America -- Discovery and exploration -- French; Indians of North America -- Canada; New France -- Discovery and exploration
I replied that I was sorry to have them show themselves to so slight an
extent my friends, and that I should never have believed it; that I had a
young man, showing them my impostor, who had been in their country, and had
not found all these difficulties which they represented, nor the people in
question so bad as they asserted. Then they began to look at him, in
particular Tessoueat the old captain, with whom he had passed the winter,
and calling him by name he said to him in his language: Nicholas, is it
true that you said you were among the Nebicerini? It was long before he
spoke, when he said to them in their language, which he spoke to a certain
extent: Yes, I was there. They immediately looked at him awry, and throwing
themselves upon him, as if they would eat him up or tear him in pieces,
raised loud cries, when Tessoueat said to him: You are a downright liar, you
know well that you slept at my side every night with my children, where you
arose every morning; if you were among the people mentioned, it was while
sleeping. How could you have been so bold as to lead your chief to believe
lies, and so wicked as to be willing to expose his life to so many dangers?
You are a worthless fellow, and he ought to put you to death more cruelly
than we do our enemies. I am not astonished that he should so importune us
on the assurance of your words.
I at once told him that he must reply to these people; and since he had
been in the regions indicated, that he must give me proofs of it, and free
me from the suspense in which he had placed me. But he remained silent and
greatly terrified.
I immediately withdrew him from the savages, and conjured him to declare
the truth of the matter, telling him that, if he had seen the sea in
question, I would give him the reward which I had promised him, and that,
if he had not seen it, he must tell me so without causing me farther
trouble. Again he affirmed with oaths all he had before said, and that he
would demonstrate to me the truth of it, if the savages would give us
canoes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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