easy to explain. It is quite possible that they meditated
some treachery towards the French: indeed, Cartier from
first to last was suspicious of their intentions, and,
as we shall see, was careful after his return to Stadacona
never to put himself within their power. To the very end
of his voyage he seems to have been of the opinion that
if he and his men were caught off their guard, Donnacona
and his braves would destroy the whole of them for the
sake of their coveted possessions. The stories that he
heard now and later from his guides of the horrors of
Indian war and of a great massacre at the Bic Islands
certainly gave him just grounds for suspicion and counselled
prudence. Some writers are agreed, however, that the
Indians had no hostile intentions whatever. The new-comers
seemed to them wondrous beings, floating on the surface
of the water in great winged houses, causing the thunder
to roll forth from their abode at will and, more than
all, feasting their friends and giving to them such gifts
as could only come from heaven. Such guests were too
valuable to lose. The Indians knew well of the settlement
at Hochelaga, and of the fair country where it lay. They
feared that if Cartier once sailed to it, he and his
presents--the red caps and the brass bowls sent direct
from heaven--would be lost to them for ever.

Be this as it may, no further opposition was offered to
the departure of the French. The two larger ships, with
a part of the company as guard, were left at their
moorings. Cartier in the Emerillon, with Mace Jalobert,
Claude de Pont Briand, and the other gentlemen of the