Finding it impossible to take the pinnace any higher, the captain
ordered the boats to be made ready for the rest of the expedition,
taking on board as much ammunition and provisions as they could carry.
He departed with these on the 29th September, accompanied by Claudius de
Pont Briand, Charles de Pommeraye, John Govion, and John Powlet, with 28
mariners, intending to go up the river as far as possible. We sailed
with prosperous weather till the 2d of October, when we arrived at
Hochelega, which is 45 leagues above the head of the lake of Augoulesme,
where we left the pinnace. At this place, and indeed all the way up, we
met with many of the natives, who brought us fish and other provisions,
always dancing and singing on our arrival. To gratify them and keep them
our friends, the captain always rewarded them on these occasions with
knives, beads, and such trifles to their full satisfaction. On
approaching Hochelega above 1000 natives, men, women and children came
to meet us, giving us as friendly and hearty welcome as if we had been
of their own nation come home after a long and perilous absence, all the
men dancing in one place, the women in another, and the children in a
third; after which they brought us great abundance of fish and of their
bread made of maize, both of which they threw into our boats in
profusion. Observing their gentle and friendly dispositions, our captain
went on shore well accompanied, on which the natives came clustering
about us in the most affectionate manner, bringing their young children
in their arms, eager to have them touched and noticed by the captain and
others, and shewing every sign of mirth and gladness at our arrival.
This scene lasted above half an hour, when the captain got all the women
to draw up in regular order, to whom he distributed many beads and
baubles of tin, and gave some knives among the men. He then returned to
the boats to supper and passed the night on board, all the people
remaining on the shore as near as possible to the boats, dancing merrily
and shouting out _aguiaze_, which in their language is an expression of