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
Upon this, Thomas came and informed me, that the savages of the island had
secretly sent a canoe to the Nebicerini, to notify them of my arrival.
Thereupon, in order to profit by the opportunity, I went to the savages to
tell them, that I had dreamed the past night that they purposed to send a
canoe to the Nebicerini without notifying me of it, at which I was greatly
surprised, since they knew that I was desirous of going there. Upon which
they replied that I did them a great wrong in trusting a liar, who wanted
to cause my death, more than so many brave chiefs, who were my friends and
who held my life dear. I replied that my man, meaning our impostor, had
been in the aforesaid country with one of the relatives of Tessoueat and had
seen the sea, the wreck and ruins of an English vessel, together with
eighty scalps which the savages had in their possession, and a young
English boy whom they held as prisoner, and whom they wished to give me as
a present.
When they heard me speak of the sea, vessels, scalps of the English, and
the young prisoner, they cried out more than before that he was a liar, and
thus they afterwards called him, as if it were the greatest insult they
could have done him, and they all united in saying that he ought to be put
to death, or else that he should tell with whom he had gone to the place
indicated, and state the lakes, rivers, and roads, by which he had gone. To
this he replied with assurance, that he had forgotten the name of the
savage, although he had stated to me his name more than twenty times, and
even on the previous day. In respect to the peculiarities of the country,
he had described them in a paper which he had handed me. Then I brought
forward the map and had it explained to the savages, who questioned him in
regard to it. To this he made no reply, but rather manifested by his sullen
silence his perverse nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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